Brazilian drug lord Ronald Rolland has been arrested by police after successfully evading capture for two years. Surprisingly, the breakthrough in the case came thanks to the social media activities of his wife Andreza de Lima, whose Instagram posts inadvertently revealed his location, Metro reported.
Notably, authorities had been tracking De Lima’s social media accounts for some time in an attempt to find a tip-off that would lead them to her husband. De Lima’s posts, which included geo-tagged locations and identifiable landmarks, helped law enforcement track her whereabouts. Her posts showed her luxurious trips to various exotic destinations such as Paris, Dubai, the Maldives, and Colombia and provided valuable information for authorities.
Last week, De Lima posted a photo that included a specific landmark, which helped police pinpoint her exact location.
He was finally arrested last Tuesday at his condominium in the coastal city of Guaruja, suspected of running a massive money laundering scheme in Mexico and supplying drug cartels. According to local police, the drug lord amassed a fortune of £860.2 million in five years, which he siphoned through more than 100 shell companies and businesses.
His wife, who was involved in his criminal activities, used her bikini shop in Guarujá to launder money, sometimes moving more than $30,000 in a single day.
Following his arrest, Roland was charged with multiple counts relating to drug trafficking, organized crime, and evading arrest.
Interestingly, he was also arrested in 2019 after his ex-wife revealed his location on social media. His ex-wife had tagged the location where the two of them were in a post on social media, which led to his arrest.
Reports say police began pursuing Roland in 2012, when he worked as an airline pilot. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sent a letter to Brazil’s federal police, warning them about an investigation into a group of Brazilian pilots involved in “cocaine smuggling.” Since receiving the DEA’s letter, Roland has become a person of interest in several Brazilian police operations targeting drug smuggling networks.
