USA sanctions Mexico football captain Marquez for alleged cartel ties

The US Treasury on Wednesday accused Rafa Marquez, captain of Mexico’s national football team, of being a “front person” for a major drug trafficking organization.

The kingpin designation by the Treasury Department targets 22 individuals including Flores, the two Mexican stars, and various members of the Flores Hernandez family.

The Treasury action also targeted 42 entities in Mexico tied to the Flores Hernandez network.

It is the single largest designation of a drug trafficking organisation ever by its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the statement said. Marquez now plays for Club Atlas and has been a member of the national squad.

Mexico’s Federal Soccer Association didn’t immediately have a comment and calls to a soccer school run by Marquez went unanswered.

Named in USA court records as the Flores Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO), the cartel operates in an independent fashion but has strategic working relationships with the leadership of the Sinaloa and the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion.

The Mexican Attorney General’s Office also seized related assets, including the Grand Casino near Guadalajara, according to the Treasury statement.

The U.S. government referred to Marquez and norteno singer Julio Cesar Alvarez, better known as Julion Alvarez, as people with longstanding relationships with Flores Hernandez, who “have acted as front persons for him and his (drug trafficking organization) and held assets on their behalf”.

USA officials allege that Marquez and Mexican singer Julion Alvarez have longstanding relationships with Flores Hernandez and provided fronts for him and his drug organization.

In March, Flores Hernandez was indicted in the U.S. state of California and Washington, DC on drug trafficking charges. The sanctions mean that any assets under USA jurisdiction are frozen and anyone in the U.S.is barred from engaging in any transactions with the people or entities named.