A real-life Queen-of-the-South beauty who built up a fortune as the financial brains of a South American drug cartel and was even called ‘Her Majesty’ has been arrested by cops in Brazil.
Valeska Pereira Monteiro, 27, used the cash that she earned as the financial mastermind of the drug cartel to fund a life of luxury, that included travelling to top hotels and holiday destinations.
However, that came to an end when she was arrested in the municipality of Gramado in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul on Thursday, 26th August.
According to cops, she acted as the “finance arm” of the drug-trafficking gang operating in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Ceara, and she was also in charge of the distribution of its territory among members.
She was dubbed ‘Majestade’ (‘Her Majesty’) after she reportedly spent her earnings from the gang’s drug-trafficking proceeds on a life of luxury, including expensive trips to the city of Rio de Janeiro and a theme park in the southern state of Santa Catarina.
After the police executed the arrest warrant issued against the suspect, she was taken to the city of Fortaleza, in the state capital of Ceara.
According to police chief Klever Farias, Her Majesty had spent a month in the north-eastern state of Rio Grande do Norte and then two months in the south-eastern city of Rio de Janeiro, where she stayed in the upmarket neighbourhoods of Copacabana and Ipanema.
She then moved to Gramado, where she was arrested. She has a prior criminal record for theft, criminal association, crimes against public trust and drug trafficking.
She had also been arrested for leading a gang that robbed residential and commercial properties in Fortaleza in 2014.
She came under the police’s radar again last year, after the police discovered she was doing the accounting for the criminal gang based in Rio de Janeiro with a branch in Ceara.
She was given an ankle tag, which she broke in April, following which she was considered a fugitive from justice until her recent arrest.
During her time evading capture, she is believed to have continued her illicit work.
On the same day as Her Majesty’s arrest, the police also arrested a man and a teenager believed to be from the same criminal gang in the municipality of Itaitinga in Ceara. They also seized two pistols and ammunition from them.
The police arrested another man named Mateus de Souza Silva and another teenager believed to be from the same gang on Monday, 30th August. They also seized drugs, precision scales and cash.
