Drug Trafficking Isn't Just for Mexican Clubs

That's a lot of blow.

You may remember the story a few months ago regarding Mexican club Mapaches de Nueva Italia which was linked to several drug cartels. Well, now it seems that those involved in La Liga want in on some of the action.


Court proceedings began today in Madrid against 11 people who were arrested for cocaine smuggling after Spanish police made arrests on Thursday and seized 600 kilos of cocaine. Um, that's a shit-ton of powder, worth around $100 million after cutting (don't ask how I know these things). The drugs had allegedly been shipped from Argentina (can anyone account for Maradona's whereabouts?) through Tangiers, Morocco into the southern Spanish port of Algeciras. The shipment was then taken by truck to Madrid where the police made their raid before it could be unloaded.

The alleged ringleader of the operation is Serbian-born Zoran Matijevic, a football agent who currently holds French citizenship (oh, I see - blame the French). Even better, Matijevic was once in charge of recruiting for OGC Nice in Ligue 1 - presumably he lured younger players with the promise of copious amounts of blow. His partners in crime also had ties to football, as had recruited (HA! Get it?) Pedrag Stankovic, formerly of second-division club Hercules, and Carlos de la Vega Diaz, a current player for second division club Rayo Vallecano (who are currently in 3rd place).

Given the fact that Spain acts as a port of entry for a significant amount of the drugs entering Europe from South America, the Spanish police have been cracking down on these quasi-cartels over the past few years. I think that Zoran and his boys are in for a bit of quiet time.