On Tuesday, senior Facebook executive Diego Dzodan - the company's VP for Latin America - was arrested in Sao Paulo, Brazil, because of a dispute between Facebook's WhatsApp instant-messaging subsidiary and the Brazilian police over a request for access to data in connection with a drug investigation.

According to a statement released by Brazil's Federal Police, the arrest of Dzodan - a citizen of Argentina - was made on the request of Federal Police in the northeastern state of Sergipe.

The reason behind the request was that Dzodan had repeatedly refused to grant police access to data - supposedly crucial to an investigation into organized crime and drug trafficking - from the WhatsApp chat service.

The police have said in its statement that Dzodan was taken into custody on Tuesday because he failed to comply with court orders that required him to supply data from the WhatsApp messaging service. In denying police the access to the data in question, WhatsApp had evidently cited its failure in intercepting instant messages related to the drug investigation.

About Dzodan's arrest, WhatsApp spokesman Matt Steinfeld has revealed that the Brazilian police arrested Dzodan in his home. The arrest was made after a judicial order from a judge.

Expressing disappointment at the "extreme step" taken by the police, Steinfeld said: "WhatsApp cannot provide information we do not have. We cooperated to the full extent of our ability in this case and while we respect the important job of law enforcement, we strongly disagree with its decision."