The midfielder of Barcelona Gabriel CortezSi, the top scorer in the Ecuadorian league with 7 goals in 9 games, was one of 18 people arrested on Friday as part of a police operation against a criminal gang in Esmeraldas, a coastal province bordering Colombia.
Although he did not mention his name, the arrest of Cortez was confirmed by the Minister of Inside, Patricio Carrilloat a press conference from emeralds where he confirmed that the 26-year-old soccer player “ordered and received information about people killed by the assassins.”
On social networks, the image of Cortez at the time of his arrest, guarded by two heavily armed police, while the Barcelona, leader of the first round of the Ecuadorian league.
Corteznicknamed ‘el Loco’, is one of the figures of the current soccer tournament Ecuadorby accumulating seven goals in the first nine days.
Without further ado, the midfielder participated until last Wednesday in his club’s 0-1 defeat against Gualaceoone of the lowest teams in the Ecuadorian league.
In a statement, the Barcelona He hopes that “he will respect the trials and investigations of the bodies of justice” and denies any responsibility or complicity in the alleged crimes committed by Cortéz, who previously wore the shirts of Brazilian Botofogo and Lobos BUAP of Mexico.
In this sense, the club Guayaquil He clarified that “the activities conducted in the private area of the players and its managers are foreign to the institution.”
The sporting institution has also indicated that it will await resolutions to be made by Justice to review what steps it will take regarding the player.
In addition to the soccer player, among the 18 detainees there were three policemen actively on duty.
During the police operation, the raid was carried out on 29 properties which also resulted in the seizure of three vehicles, 14 mobile phones, three surveillance cameras and a kilo of drugs.
The operation, called “Operation Great Impact 10”, was carried out by Ecuador National Police calong with the State Attorney General’s Office against the criminal gang called “Los Tiguerones”.
Authorities associate “Los Tiguerones” with Oliver Sinisterra Front, a dissident group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) operating near the border of Ecuador and to whom the kidnapping and murder of three Ecuadorian journalists in 2018 is attributed.
According to the General Commander of the Police Ecuadorthe arrests were made after an investigation that lasted four months in which information was collected to request warrants of arrest from Justice.
Ecuadorian authorities have charged “Los Tiguerones” with the crimes of drug trafficking, terrorism, murder, contract killings, extortion, illegal arms trafficking and explosive ammunition.
Source: La Verdad
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