A Brazilian social media star has gone on the run after being accused of running a drug trafficking ring.
Influencer Melissa Said, who boasts 340,000 followers on Instagram and shares content related to canabis, is accused of leading a criminal gang involved with the distribution of the drug and money laundering in the state of Bahia in northeast Brazil.
Local police raided five properties linked to the 23-year-old and her alleged organisation, CNN Brazil reports.
Cops arrested three suspected accomplices on Wednesday, but Melissa remains at large.
Officers seized electronic devices, cash and found evidence of several suspicious financial transactions during their investigation.
Authorities believe that the social media personality had suppliers in the states of Bahia and Sao Paolo and that she encouraged the smuggling and consumption of drugs.
She is also believed to have advised her followers on how to evade police while transporting drugs.
Ernandes Jr., director for the State Department for Prevention and Suppression of Drug Trafficking (DENARC), said: ‘The objective of this operation is to combat drug trafficking, with the main target being a digital influencer who promotes crime.
‘It was discovered that in addition to promoting crime and drug use, she also sells and distributes narcotics in Bahia, with some people from São Paulo as one of her suppliers.’
Investigations into the influencer began in 2024, after she was reportedly caught with drugs at an airport and taken to a police station.
Melissa’s last Instagram post before becoming a fugitive was a video in which she discussed the legalisation of marijuana while appearing to smoke an unknown substance.
It comes as Britain has seen several drug-smuggling cases this summer, including teenager Bella Culley who says she was tricked into smuggling drugs from Thailand to Georgia, while influencer Charlotte May Lee was arrested after she was found carrying drugs from Thailand to Sri Lanka.
