Former Brazilian news anchor arrested for trafficking drugs was top 'supplier' for network of drug dealers

A former Brazilian journalist was arrested as a major supplier of drug dealers in Brazil, authorities have announced. 

Marcelo Carrião, 51, was taken into custody, along with five others, Thursday and accused of being the principal 'supplier' of a network that provided drugs to dealers in Santos, São Paulo.

São Paulo Civil Police Specialized Criminal Investigations Division chief Fabiano Barbeiro said five other suspects were apprehended as part of 'Operation Iron Lady.' 

Authorities were working on locating three other suspects.

'We are now investigating the sources from whom Marcelo purchased these drugs,' Barbeiro said.

Marcelo Carrião, a former anchor for Brazilian network SBT, was arrested along with five other drug traffickers who supplied drugs to street level dealers in Santos, a city in the southern state of São Paulo 

Authorities raided multiple properties in Santos, Brazil, Thursday and arrested six alleged drug traffickers, including former news anchor Marcelo Carrião. The drugs and mobile devices seen here were confiscated from his home

Carrião's lawyer, Marcelo Cruz, denied the accusations brought forward by the police.

'Marcelo is over 50 years old and to date, has never had any type of investigation for crimes of this nature. He, in fact, uses drugs, and the drug seized today at his residence was intended for his own consumption,' Cruz told O Globo. 'Marcelo has almost 30 years of journalism, a transport company and has always carried out lawful work. He has been working since he was 14.' 

Carrião was scheduled to appear before a judge Thursday. 

Carrião, who is married and has two children, worked as a reporter and anchor for SBT from 2012 until this year.

Prior to that, he was a reporter for Rede Record from 2005 to 2011 and worked as a producer and reporter with TV Mar between 1993 and 2005.

On his private Instagram account, Carrião described himself as "a surfer-journalist who always smiles for life. 

Carrião and his eight codefendants were targeted by the police following the arrest of two female delivery workers, ages 19 and 23, on February 6.

Leonardo Rivau, who leads the Narcotics Investigations Station, said investigators discovered a conversation in one of the cell phones confiscated from the workers that implicated Carrião.

Former reporter and news anchor Marcelo Carrião was arrested Thursday the Civil Police in the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo. Authorities identified the journalist as the main 'supplier' of marijuana dealers

Carrião has worked for Brazilian news outlets SBT, Rede Record and TV Mar

One of the women was in charge of handling the logistics of the drug dealing business out of a home in the Santos neighborhood of Gonzaga and was also the middle person between the traffickers who sold the drugs.

'He (Carrião) offered the drug, she placed the order and arranged delivery so she could but it and resell it in Gonzaga (a Santos neighborhood,' Rivau said.

Cops raided multiple residences, including a home where three tents were set up to grow marijuana plants.

'In this (home), in particular, we found a plantation owned by two brothers who are drug suppliers for one of the targets (of the operation)', Rivau said.