{"id":39812,"date":"2017-08-10T05:01:25","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T05:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=39812"},"modified":"2017-08-10T05:01:25","modified_gmt":"2017-08-10T05:01:25","slug":"u-s-treasury-sanctions-mexican-soccer-star-rafa-marquez-ties-drug-trafficking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/soccer\/u-s-treasury-sanctions-mexican-soccer-star-rafa-marquez-ties-drug-trafficking.html","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Treasury sanctions Mexican soccer star Rafa Marquez for ties to drug trafficking"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. Treasury sanctions Mexican soccer star Rafa Marquez for ties to drug trafficking<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

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The U.S. Treasury announced Wednesday that it was sanctioning Rafa Marquez, along with 20 other people, for providing support to a Mexican drug trafficking organization with ties to a pair of major cartels. Marquez, 38, is a longtime captain of Mexico\u2019s national soccer team and is viewed as one of the greatest defensive players in the country\u2019s history.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Treasury alleged that Marquez (full name: Rafael Marquez Alvarez) and a popular Mexican singer named Julion Alvarez \u201chave acted as front persons\u201d for an organization headed by Raul Flores Hernandez. Assets of theirs held in the United States or controlled by Americans have been frozen, and they and the 19 others could face civil penalties of over $1 million or criminal penalties for violations of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, also known as the Kingpin Act.<\/span><\/p>\n

The announcement was the result of what the agency called a multiyear investigation undertaken by its Office of Foreign Assets Control in coordination with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Mexican government. \u201cThis action marks the largest single Kingpin Act action against a Mexican drug cartel network that OFAC has designated,\u201d the Treasury said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Flores Hernandez was alleged to be an independent operator, one who has been active in the drug trade since the 1980s and who has \u201cstrategic alliances\u201d with Mexico\u2019s Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels. The Treasury also designated 42 Mexican entities as providing support for Flores Hernandez\u2019s organization, including a soccer team, Club Deportivo Morumbi.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marquez began his career with Atlas, a club based in Guadalajara, where Flores Hernandez was alleged to operate, and he returned to the team in 2015. In between, Marquez played for Monaco, with whom he won a Ligue 1 title; Barcelona, where he won La Liga four times and the Champions League twice; the New York Red Bulls and Italy\u2019s Verona.<\/span><\/p>\n

For much of that period, Marquez was the only Mexican playing in Europe\u2019s top leagues, and he was also the captain of the Mexican team in four World Cups from 2002 to 2014. He earned the ire of U.S. fans, as well as a red card, in the 2002 tournament for hitting Cobi Jones with his cleat studs and his head in a midair tackle.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Treasury also cited a soccer academy and health and rehabilitation clinics owned by Marquez as having ties to the drug-trafficking organization. \u201cRaul Flores Hernandez has operated for decades because of his long-standing relationships with other drug cartels and his use of financial front persons to mask his investments of illegal drug proceeds,\u201d OFAC Director John E. Smith said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

A former chief of international operations for the DEA, Mike Vigil, told the Associated Press that \u201cit would be difficult to imagine Marquez didn\u2019t know who he was dealing with because Flores Hernandez has been around for so long.\u201d The singer, Alvarez, posted a video to his Facebook page saying \u201cabsolutely nothing is going on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source-\u00a0https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/early-lead\/wp\/2017\/08\/09\/u-s-treasury-sanctions-mexican-soccer-star-rafa-marquez-for-ties-to-drug-trafficking\/?utm_term=.a52fa0fc12d7<\/span><\/p>\n

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