De Sa, a glue sniffer who steals from shops to feed his habit, broke into a glue factory and started inhaling directly from the vats. He was overcome by fumes after one sniff and lost his balance, upsetting a vat of glue as he fell. By the time he came round, he was stuck to the floor and had to lie there until the workers turned up on Monday. According to Sergeant Paulo Quadros, of the Belo Horizonte police force, it took 12 men to saw through the floor, then De Sa and a dozen boards were taken into custody.