MEXICO CITY (AP) — Legendary Mexican soccer player Rafael Marquez Alvarez and a well-known band leader are among 22 people sanctioned for alleged ties to a drug trafficking organization, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday.
The sanctions are the result of a multi-year investigation of the drug trafficking organization allegedly headed by Raul Flores Hernandez, the department said in a statement.
It will also sanction 43 entities in Mexico, including a soccer team and casino.
It is the single largest such designation of a drug trafficking organization ever by its Office of Foreign Assets Control, the statement said.
Marquez, 38, is a former defender for Barcelona, Monaco and New York Red Bulls who currently plays for the Mexican soccer club Atlas in Guadalajara and is captain of the Mexican national team. He did not practice with Atlas on Wednesday.
Later in the day, Marquez denied having any links to drug traffickers.
“I categorically deny any kind of relation to this organization,” Marquez said in a statement, adding “today is my most difficult match; I will try to clear all of this up.”
Flores Hernandez allegedly operated independently in the northern city of Guadalajara but maintained alliances with the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels. The attorney general’s office said Flores Hernandez was arrested July 20 and is being held while his extradition is pending.
The Mexican Attorney General’s Office also seized related assets Wednesday, including the Grand Casino near Guadalajara, according to the U.S. statement.
Mexican prosecutors said they were working closely with U.S. authorities on the investigation and added that Marquez came voluntarily to the Attorney General’s Office to provide a statement.
Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and author of the book “Deal,” said the 64-year old Flores Hernandez has been in the business since the 1980s.
“He is extraordinarily crafty in the way he strategizes and the way that he navigates between cartels,” Vigil said.
But, the former agent added, Flores Hernandez has remained a mid-level drug trafficker, never forming what one would call a cartel, and of late had aligned himself with Nemesio Oseguera of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Legendary Mexican soccer player Rafael Marquez Alvarez and a well-known band leader are among 22 people sanctioned for alleged ties to a drug trafficking organization, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday.
The sanctions are the result of a multi-year investigation of the drug trafficking organization allegedly headed by Raul Flores Hernandez, the department said in a statement.
It will also sanction 43 entities in Mexico, including a soccer team and casino.
It is the single largest such designation of a drug trafficking organization ever by its Office of Foreign Assets Control, the statement said.
Marquez, 38, is a former defender for Barcelona, Monaco and New York Red Bulls who currently plays for the Mexican soccer club Atlas in Guadalajara and is captain of the Mexican national team. He did not practice with Atlas on Wednesday.
Later in the day, Marquez denied having any links to drug traffickers.
“I categorically deny any kind of relation to this organization,” Marquez said in a statement, adding “today is my most difficult match; I will try to clear all of this up.”
Flores Hernandez allegedly operated independently in the northern city of Guadalajara but maintained alliances with the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels. The attorney general’s office said Flores Hernandez was arrested July 20 and is being held while his extradition is pending.
The Mexican Attorney General’s Office also seized related assets Wednesday, including the Grand Casino near Guadalajara, according to the U.S. statement.
Mexican prosecutors said they were working closely with U.S. authorities on the investigation and added that Marquez came voluntarily to the Attorney General’s Office to provide a statement.
Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and author of the book “Deal,” said the 64-year old Flores Hernandez has been in the business since the 1980s.
“He is extraordinarily crafty in the way he strategizes and the way that he navigates between cartels,” Vigil said.
But, the former agent added, Flores Hernandez has remained a mid-level drug trafficker, never forming what one would call a cartel, and of late had aligned himself with Nemesio Oseguera of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.