Nelma Kodama held following joint police operation into cocaine trafficking
One of the first defendants to be arrested in Brazil’s massive “Operation Car Wash” investigation has been arrested again today at Lisbon’s luxurious Ritz Hotel as part of a joint police operation dubbed “Operação Descobrimento” (Operation Discovery) aimed at dismantling a criminal organisation specialising in the trafficking of cocaine.
Nelma Kodama was actually condemned to 18 years in jail in 2014 for her part in the Car Wash money-laundering scam.
If it hadn’t been for a pardon handed out in 2017 by former president Michel Temer she would still be there.
Now she is in hot water again – this time as a result of investigations that have been ongoing since February 2021 when a plane due to return a number of footballing personalities back to Portugal was found to have been 595 kgs of cocaine packed in its fuselage.
Early reports today suggest Nelma Kodama already has an international arrest warrant out in her name, emitted by authorities in Brazil.
More of this story will no doubt emerge over the next few hours.
