Luiz Carlos da Rocha, also known as White Head, is one of the biggest cocaine kingpins in South America. He has evaded capture by the police for three decades. Well, now all of that has come to an end. Brazilian authorities recently captured White Head in the city of Sorriso in Mato, Brazil. In a twist of irony, the translation of Sorriso from Portuguese is smile.
Da Rocha is believed to have a net worth of $97.5 million. Da Rocha's right hand man was also captured at a different location during an organized attack wherein 150 agents carried out 24 raids and seized roughly $10 million worth of cars, jets, farms, and other property. The authorities officially called the operation "Spectrum," a nod to the fugitive who lived in the shadows evading the police for almost 30 years. At one point, Da Rocha changed his name to Vitor Luiz de Moraes and had plastic surgery to change his face in an effort to stay ahead of the police.
Da Rocha is accused of masterminding an enormous cocaine cartel with production facilities in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru. His distribution network covered South America, the United States, and Europe. Da Rocha is also accused of being the main supplier of the violent drug traffickers who control Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. His network flew cocaine in small planes through Venezuelan airspace to remote farms in western Brazil. The drug was then shipped in secret compartments in vehicles to the big cities of Brazil or prepared for shipment abroad.
It is believed that da Rocha's personal net worth is near $100 million when you tally up all his offshore bank accounts, property, and vehicles.
Brazilian authorities are cracking down on the highly lucrative wholesale cocaine trade, of which da Rocha was a major player. Recently, an air force jet fired a warning shot to signal to a small plane that it should land. That plane was carrying a half ton of cocaine.
