Ronald Roland, aged 50, was captured last Tuesday at his condominium in Guarujá, a southeastern city, after his wife, Andrezza de Lima, inadvertently revealed their location through social media, as reported by TV Globo’s news magazine show Fantastico.
During the Federal Police raid, Roland, de Lima, and their daughter were asleep at their residence.
De Lima, who owns a bikini shop, regularly posted updates about their travels to countries such as Colombia, Dubai, France, and the Maldives.
Roland was among eight individuals arrested in an operation spanning seven states, during which authorities seized significant amounts of cash, jewelry, weapons, a boat, 34 cars, and an airplane.
Federal Police investigators alleged that Roland had connections with drug cartels in Mexico and estimated that he laundered $900 million over the past five years.
One of the 100 businesses implicated in money laundering activities was linked to his wife’s bikini shop.
“Houses were purchased under the names of companies whose partners lacked the economic means to acquire real estate, vehicles, or aircraft,” stated Federal Police agent Ricardo Ruiz to the network. “We discovered that individuals working in restaurants were partners in multiple companies involved in transactions totaling tens of millions of reais.”
Ruiz further revealed that the agency had been monitoring Roland’s activities since 2012. At the time, Roland was employed as an airline pilot and was under investigation for his ties to drug traffickers involved in shipping large quantities of drugs from Central and South America to Mexico.
Roland drew attention in 2019 when he moved into an upscale condominium in Uberlândia, a city in the neighboring southeastern state of Minas Gerais. His conspicuous spending habits included driving a vehicle valued at $91,500 one week, followed by a $183,000 vehicle the next, and a luxury car worth $146,000 the week after.
“This drew scrutiny from the neighborhood. Who was this individual moving in?” remarked Ruiz.
