July 9th 2024.
Andrezza de Lima Joel loved to share her travels with her husband, Ronald Roland, on Instagram. They were a glamorous couple, often jet-setting to exotic destinations like Paris, Dubai, the Maldives, and Colombia. However, their lavish lifestyle came to a halt when Ronald was arrested for the second time in a massive drug trafficking and money laundering scheme.
After a two-year manhunt, Ronald was finally captured at his condominium in Guarujá, a coastal town in Brazil. The authorities had been searching for him due to his connections with Mexican cartels and his involvement in a money laundering scheme. Interestingly, it was Ronald's wife, Andrezza, who unintentionally helped the police track him down. She had been regularly posting photos of their luxury trips on Instagram, unknowingly giving away his whereabouts.
In 2019, Ronald was arrested for the first time when his ex-wife tagged their location on social media. This time, it was Andrezza's Instagram posts that led to his capture. The couple, along with their daughters, were sound asleep when the police barged into their home and arrested Ronald.
According to the Brazilian TV show Fantástico, Andrezza's social media activity played a crucial role in the kingpin's arrest. She had been flaunting their extravagant lifestyle on Instagram, which caught the attention of the authorities. They were able to track the couple's movements and gather evidence against Ronald.
The Federal Police revealed that Ronald had accumulated a fortune of 5,000,000,000 Reals (equivalent to £860,200,000) in just five years. This money was laundered through a network of over 100 shell companies, including Andrezza's bikini shop in Guarujá. The authorities seized 34 luxury cars, two private jets, high-end watches, weapons, and a large amount of cash in their raid.
The drug trafficking ring that Ronald was a part of was described as "complex" and "violent." It took years for the authorities to uncover their illegal activities, which involved hiding and disguising assets gained from numerous crimes. In addition to Ronald, eight other people were arrested in the raid across seven states in Brazil.
The investigation also revealed that Andrezza had received a large sum of money (equivalent to £28,000) in just one day, which she used to buy a plane worth £430,000. The police suspected that she was involved in the money laundering scheme, as she owned multiple businesses that were used to launder the money.
Ricardo Ruiz, a Federal Police officer, stated that there were advertisements for bikinis on Andrezza's social media, but it was questionable whether the profits from the business were enough to afford multi-million dollar aircraft and luxury vehicles. The police also found that Ronald had been buying properties in the names of people who were not wealthy enough to own them.
The money laundering operation involved around 200 people, who were responsible for shuffling the money and depositing it into ATMs. The authorities discovered that the money launderers would use rubbish bin bags to carry the money before depositing it into ATMs. They also found that at one point, about £8,500 was deposited in 20 envelopes at a bank machine in the East Zone.
Despite trying to remain discrete, Ronald's extravagant purchases caught the attention of his neighbors when he moved to a high-end apartment in Uberlândia. The Federal Police had been monitoring him since 2012 when he was working as an airline pilot. They were investigating his connections with violent drug traffickers who were transporting drugs from Central and South America to Mexico.
In the early 2000s, the São Paulo police had also investigated Ronald for various crimes, including tax evasion, corruption, and criminal association. However, he was released the following year. When approached by Fantástico for a comment, the lawyers for Ronald and Andrezza refused to provide any information.
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