Fugitive drug lord arrested after his wife's constant posting on social media helped authorities capture him following a two-year manhunt

 

Tuesday, July 09, 2024 - A Fugitive drug lord has been arrested after his wife's constant posting on social media helped authorities in Brazil capture him after a two-year manhunt.

Ronald Roland, 50, was arrested last Tuesday at his condominium in the southeastern city of Guarujá after his wife, Andrezza de Lima, had previously shared one of their locations, TV Globo's news magazine show Fantastico revealed.

Roland, de Lima, and their daughter were sleeping when Federal Police raided their residence.

De Lima, who owns a bikini shop, often posted their travels to Colombia, Dubai, France, and Maldives.

The kingpin was among eight people arrested as part of an operation across seven states, with authorities seizing large amounts of cash, jewellery, weapons, a boat, 34 cars, and an airplane.

Federal Police investigators alleged that he had contacts with drug cartels in Mexico and estimated he laundered $900 million over the last five years.

One of the 100 businesses that were used to launder cash was his wife's bikini shop.

'Houses were purchased in the name of companies whose partners were people without the minimum economic capacity to acquire real estate, vehicles, aircraft,' Federal Police agent Ricardo Ruiz told the network. 'We found partners of companies, for example, who work in a restaurant, but who are partners in several companies that moved tens of millions of reais.'

Ruiz added that the agency had been looking into Roland's activities since 2012.

He was working as an airline pilot at the time and was investigated for his connections to drug traffickers who sent massive loads of drugs from Central and South America to Mexico.

Roland raised eyebrows in 2019 when he moved into a luxurious condominium in Uberlandia, a city in the nearby southeastern state of Minas Gerais. He was spotted one week driving a $91,500 vehicle and the following week one valued at $183,000 and a week later a luxury car worth $146,000.

'This caught the attention of the neighbourhood. Who is this person who moved here,' Ruiz said.