U.S. Army Veteran Among 4 Arrested For Drug Trafficking in Brazil: Was David Beckhauser Santos Herold A Cartel Hitman?

American citizen and U.S. Army veteran David Beckhauser Santos Herold was among four suspected gang members arrested by police in Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil. Authorities raided a residence after a three day stakeout on a building following a tip from neighbors. They reportedly found drugs, jewelry and cash, including 1.5 pounds of compacted marijuana and some ecstasy pills. Yet authorities are concerned that they four men, all from the neighboring state of Santa Catarina, are more than low-level drug dealers.

Officials from Santa Catarina are traveling to Rio Grande do Sul to investigate suspicions that the four men are connected to the PGC, a gang run by jailed leaders from their prison in Florianópolis, em Santa Catarina. Investigators are looking into the possibility that the men were sent by the PGC to set up a base of operations for a larger drug trafficking operation.

Officials say that Herold is a hitman who likely carried out multiple orders for the PGC. In March of 2014, officials had named Herold as a suspect in connection with the murder of 26-year-old drug trafficker Tiago Cordeiro, also of Santa Catarina. Herold was released and not charged. Police also say that Herold offered his military expertise to train gang members how to use weapons, and that he’s wanted in connection with another murder which is currently under investigation.

“This is the information that we received from the Civil Police Santa Catarina, which indicate that [Herold] filled this role inside the criminal group. He was the executioner, the assassin of this criminal faction in the state of Santa Catarina,” said Edison Vlademir Frade, a representative of the Rio Grande do Sul police.

Herold, reportedly a U.S. army veteran who served between 2008 and 2013, was born in Santa Catarina and is a Brazilian citizen. He also holds American citizenship, according to local media. Harold is charged with murder, robbery and drug possession.

His lawyer, Claudio Gastão da Rosa Filho, denied the charges against him, calling him a “war hero” who “does not use drugs.” She added that he did not know the victim of the 2014 murder and had an alibi.