Beach bum Brit expat busted for being a drug kingpin in Brazil after hiding his ‘weed on wheels’ business by working as a kitesurfing instructor
David Shields, originally from Liverpool, was snared by cops in the South American country on suspicion of flogging high grade 'skunk'
COPS in Brazil have arrested a Brit kite-surfing instructor suspected of being the kingpin behind a drug-trafficking operation that offered a premium-priced delivery ‘weed on wheels’ service.
David Shields, who has been living in Brazil for over nine years, was charged on Monday with growing and selling super-strength marijuana from his home on Cumbuco beach, north east Brazil.
Anti-drug officers (DCTD) found more than 20 square metres of skunk, the more potent form of cannabis, growing in the backyard of the property in a late-night raid.
The narcotics squad seized around 80 cannabis plants in six large wooden boxes, 8,000 seeds ready for planting, 2.6 lbs worth of drugs packaged up ready for sale, a set of precision scales and two mobile phones.
It emerged that the Liverpudlian 37-year-old had been under police surveillance for about a year for suspected drug-trafficking after an anonymous tip-off alerted investigators.
Officers allege the Brit raked in hundreds of thousands of pounds as the price for one kilo of skunk is around £5,000 nine times more than the cost of regular marijuana.
Patricia Bezerra, chief inspector of Ceara’s DCTD, said: “We believe he distributed drugs to order operating a high-priced and lucrative delivery service to upper-class buyers.
“Skunk is an extremely expensive drug like cocaine and has, as a target audience, more affluent clients.
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“His customers also included tourists, beachgoers and those doing kite surfing.”
Shields owns and runs Kitebud kite-surfing school and was granted permanent residency in Brazil in March 2009.
According to company records the business was opened when he first arrived in March 2008.
The professional kite-surfer was arrested late at night as he was leaving his home.
He allegedly tried to escape by setting his two dogs on officers, running back into the property and trying to dupe police into believing he didn’t speak Portuguese.
The businessman, who is known in the area as the “professor”, has been remanded in custody and could face a jail term of between five to 15 years if found guilty.
In addition to the drugs haul, officers discovered 80 square metres of land at the back of the house that appeared to have been prepared for planting a new crop of the powerful cannabis strain.
Shields has denied the charges and claims the illicit substance was for his ‘own consumption’.
Bezerra said investigations pointed to Shields being ‘responsible for cultivating and distributing the drugs in Caucaia and Fortaleza’, the capital of Ceará state.
She said: “Our investigations revealed he was well-regarded among people who bought the drugs. We received our lead from some English-speaking drug-using suspects and we got tip offs from anonymous callers who claimed (Shields) was producing high-quality skunk.
“We believe he was the one who did the whole process: choosing the seeds, fertilizing the soil, planting, harvesting, drying, weighing and preparing the drug for sale.”
Cops made their late-night swoop on Shield’s property as he was leaving his residence with his two large hounds.
The ex-pat who studied at Liverpool University, is accused of being one of the ‘main super-marijuana’ distributors to upper-class users in the region.
Detective Lucas Aragão, part of the anti-drugs operation, said the house where the Brit lived was large and he appeared to work alone demonstrating a ‘specialist knowledge in planting and harvesting skunk’.
Aragão said: “The grounds were filled with normal flowers and tall trees but this was a façade because a skunk cannabis plantation was hidden in the middle of these plants.
“The plants were dried on a clothesline which was found inside the house.”
According to officers, Shields, may have used his kite-surfing business as a cover for his more ‘lucrative’ operation.
Officers revealed they will be contacting British cops to find out whether Shields has a criminal background.
Berezza said: “We intend to find out whether he operated alone or if there are others involved in the skunk trade.
“We suspect (Shields) came to Brazil with the main intention of trafficking drugs.”
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