SAO PAULO, Nov 20, (AP): Brazil ’s federal police arrested Tuesday five officers accused of plotting a coup that included plans to overthrow the government following the 2022 elections and kill then-President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, authorities said. The five also planned to kill Lula's running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

The arrested included four special operations military personnel, one of whom is a retired brigadier general, and a federal police officer. The police said they also carried out three search warrants along with other measures, including seizing the suspects' passports and preventing them from contacting others. It was not clear when charges would be officially raised against the five suspects.

"The objective was to prevent the inauguration of the legitimately elected government and undermine the free exercise of democracy and the authority of Brazil’s judiciary,” de Moraes, who authorized the arrests, said of the plot in his order. "These actions, peaking between November and December 2022, were part of a broader plan to carry out a coup d’état,” he added.

ula returned as Brazil’s president for a third, non-consecutive term after narrowly defeating far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in October 2022. Bolsonaro, who frequently cast doubt on the election results without providing evidence and never conceded, left for the United States days before Lula’s January 2023 inauguration.

In the aftermath of the elections, die-hard Bolsonaro supporters staged nationwide protests challenging the results, closing highways and camping outside military installations. That culminated in a Jan 8, 2023 uprising, when thousands of demonstrators stormed government buildings in the capital of Brasilia a week after Lula’s inauguration, seeking to oust him from power.