Brazil's 'Drug Cartel Queen' Caught in Hail of Bullets During Brutal Assassination Attempt
Brazil's alleged "drug cartel queen," Camila Marodin, has survived an assassination attempt when shot at while under house arrest.
Marodin, nicknamed "Trafigata de Curitiba" or "Traffic Cutie," has been accused of drug trafficking, money laundering, and criminal enterprise, The Sun reported.
The drug cartel queen, who has been fitted with an ankle tag, had just returned home from the shops in Curitiba city when a hail of gunfire barraged them from a parked car on January 31.
None of the reported 20 bullets fired hit Marodin. However, her friend, Paulo Sergio Veiga de Almeida, was shot and taken to a hospital, according to Daily Star.
Video footage shows her car pulling into the driveway and the pair getting out before they hurriedly took cover as the shooting started.
Marodin's lawyer Claudio Dalledone said his client's current home is the third she has lived in since she was fitted with an ankle tag last December.
Dalledone noted that the Brazilian model, who authorities claimed was living a secret life as a drug cartel queen, regularly changed addresses due to the apparent threat to her life.
The lawyer said his client frequently noticed suspicious activity nearby. Authorities have yet to comment on the matter.
Brazil's 'Drug Cartel Queen' Allegedly Set Up Her Husband's Murder
Camila Marodin, also a social media influencer, was arrested in the coastal town of Matinhos in the state of Parana in Brazil on November 12 after she was suspected of being behind the murder of her husband.
Her husband, Ricardo Marodin, was shot dead during their son's birthday party last November 7 by criminals that police initially believed worked under him.
According to reports, four armed individuals arrived in a silver Volkswagen Voyage and fired multiple shots at their son's fourth birthday party.
Ricardo reportedly died on the spot during the family celebration. After his death, Marodin told authorities the killing was likely a case of mistaken identity.
Aside from being an alleged drug cartel leader, authorities arrested Marodin for Ricardo's shooting and the deaths of two former cops. Both officers were killed in the neighborhood of Cajuru in Curitiba, three days after Ricardo.
Military police went to Marodin's home in the town of Pinhais to carry out the warrant for her arrest. However, she had left the premises.
She was later caught on her way back home from her mom's house in Matinhos, where she allegedly hid a Glock pistol to avoid suspicion. Police later recovered the gun that was buried in the garden.
Police spokesman Colonel Barroso earlier said that the arrest was already planned but had to be brought forward after the deaths of Ricardo and former police officers Guilherme Antonio da Costa and Thiago Cesar Carvalho.
Homicide investigator Tito Barichello noted that the crimes could be related as Ricardo and Thiago knew each other. The two former cops were also shot dead by gunmen in a silver Volkswagen Voyage that was believed to be the same one used in Ricardo's shooting.
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Camila Marodin Secretly Lives as 'Drug Cartel Queen'
Police were initially working on the theory that Ricardo Marodin was a drug cartel leader. But they later suspected that his wife was the real boss and turned their suspicions towards her.
Police have since uncovered Camila Marodin's hoard of 13 luxury houses worth 3 million Brazilian real ($547,900) believed to be owned by the drug cartel.
Five cars, including two Audis, a Chevrolet Camaro, and a Porsche, as well as a motorbike, 39 weapons, and cash in the amount of 120,000 Brazilian real (US$21,691) were also confiscated.
Investigators also found financial payments totaling more than 1.3 million Brazilian real (US$240,100) in the Brazilian model's bank account. A court in Brazil has already frozen the money in Marodin's account.
The Brazilian model's arrest was reportedly part of a military police operation that arrested 14 other suspected drug cartel members.
The investigation of the military police on the said drug cartel has reportedly been going on for about a year before Ricardo's death as part of "Operation Ostentation."
Commander of the Parana military police Colonel Hudson Leñncio Teixeira earlier said the drug cartel queen and the group's other members showed off in high-end places, with expensive cars and motorcycles.
"They didn't hide anything they got from crime, drug trafficking and money laundering," Teixeira noted.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Mary Webber
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