A karate champion who is also the son of a councillor and an entrepreneur has allegedly been arrested in possession of a whopping 720 kilogrammes of cocaine worth over GBP 3.6 million on the street.

The incident took place in Navegantes, which is a city located in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, on Monday night, on 21st February.

The suspect has been named as local businessman Ruan Arno Brockveld, 24, and he was arrested for drug-trafficking despite claiming he was only looking after it.

He is reportedly the 2021 karate champion for Santa Catarina and the sun of local councillor Mauricio Brockveld.

According to the Military Police, the suspect admitted to being responsible for storing more than 720 kilogrammes (1,587 lbs) of cocaine reportedly worth over BRL 25 million (GBP 3.6 million) on the street in an apartment in the municipality of Balneario Picarras, in the same region.

The businessman also revealed, according to the police, that he was paid a monthly sum of BRL 4,000 (GBP 582) a month to hide the illegal drugs and to find someone to transport the cocaine to Rio de Janeiro.

Police said that federal police and military police conducted the drug bust after security camera footage confirmed that the narcotics were in his apartment.

The military police said after they located the suspect’s car, that was loaded with drugs, that Brockveld attempted to remove the cocaine from the apartment to avoid being found with it, but he was reportedly caught red-handed by police.

The police said that they seized over 720 kilogrammes of cocaine in the apartment, as well as 6 kilogrammes (13 lbs) of crack cocaine.

It is unclear if the suspect had been formally charged at the time of writing. The investigation is ongoing.