Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Brazilians watching footage of the arrest on Wednesday of once powerful lawmaker Eduardo Cunha had a particularly burning question: who was that plainclothes cop with the man bun?
Cunha, 58, was photographed being led to an airplane in the capital Brasilia under the eye of several guards.
One of his minders was a man in typical hipster regalia - blue jeans, T-shirt, carefully coiffed beard and long hair done up in a tight bun.
Never mind the corruption charges against Cunha or the potential political fallout. The handsome hipster was the big news for some.
"The new Internet mystery is to discover who the hipster policeman next to Cunha is," said one tweet.
O Globo newspaper's website quickly discovered the answer: the hunky hipster is Lucas Valenca and he's an "Instagram muse," Globo said.
Instagram posts published by Globo show the policeman on the beach, nuzzling up with dogs, or getting that now famous beard tended to by a barber.
Faça você msm! Ou deixe quem sabe fazer! rs #beard #beardpro #barbudo #viking #navalha
A photo posted by Lucas Valença (@valenca26) on Aug 9, 2016 at 12:06pm PDT
The fascination over the no-longer-undercover cop could provide Brazilians with a badly needed replacement for their last anti-corruption symbol.
A policeman of Japanese origin pictured escorting several other corruption suspects became a full blown folk hero, epitomizing the fight against the crooked and powerful.
The likeness of "the Japanese," as he was universally known, appeared on T-shirts, carnival masks and banners at anti-corruption demonstrations.
Sadly, the hero himself was arrested in June on smuggling charges.
AFP