Brazilian candidate 'used cocaine to bribe voters'

According to reports, Carme Cristina Lima, 32, who was running for councillor in northern Brazil, has been arrested for bribing her constituents with the drug.

Apparently police sniffed out the dodgy activity after seeing a strangely enthusiastic crowd gathering around Lima’s car on the morning of election day.

On searching Lima’s car, officers allegedly found hundreds of packets of cocaine stapled to leaflets with instructions telling voters how to vote for her.

Speaking to Brazil's TNOnline website, police chief Daniel Ottoni said: "There was a large gathering of people around Ms Lima, but when they saw the police they all ran away. The candidate and another man also fled by car but officers caught up with them.

"According to locals, she had been distributing the drugs since early in the morning, on condition that people vote for her."