The drama of the former Chilean soccer player who could be sentenced to life imprisonment

A prominent former Chilean footballer is spending critical hours in jail after being involved in a drug trafficking spiral, homicide and crime. Due to his police record he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

The protagonist of this story is called Luis Núñez, better known as Lucho Pato, a footballer trained in one of the largest clubs in Chile, the Catholic University (UC).

Its history began in the town of La Legua, in Santiago, which is considered until today as one of the sectors where drug trafficking has always predominated, regardless of the measures of the governments of the day. In that place, in the early 90’s, They remember him as a normal young man, UC fan and the neighborhood club, Juventud Norambuena.

Precisely in those years he began his training at UC, until in 1996 he was expelled from the club for having problems with a prop. From there began a series of passes to third division clubs such as Municipal Las Condes, Magallanes and He even played abroad with the Jacksonville Cyclones in the United States.

Lucho Pato even managed to join the Chilean Soccer Team: in 2007 he played a match against Costa Rica.

However, Luis was always surrounded by problems. In 2003, he was accused of keeping drugs from a group known as “Los Ciprianos” in his own apartment. In 2012 Núñez was prosecuted and later acquitted by justice for a link he had with a criminal gang dedicated to the theft of ATMs. The footballer would have been contacted by the leader of this group to reduce luxury species.

In 2014 Luis Núñez again had to appear in court for be accused of financing a drug trafficking business dedicated to implanting drugs from Bolivia to Chile. The athlete would have financed the business that concluded with him behind bars with $ 1,500,000 (USD 1,907).

Kill Juan Pinto

The worst would come in October 2018 when A bloody shooting occurred in the town of La Legua, where a subject identified as Juan Pinto was shot dead while another individual ended up injured.

According to information from the Investigative Police (PDI), the shooting was due to a “conflict between two groups within the same population, a fight is established between both gangs and these shots are provoked in which the detainee is the material author ”of the shots.

Despite the fact that one of the protagonists of this crime was arrested shortly after, Luis Núñez was targeted by the police for participating in this crime. The athlete quickly fled. “We have identified this person, a former professional footballer, who is also the author of this crime,” Salas said in 2018.

From one day to the next, Núñez’s whereabouts became a complete unknown. Despite the various procedures that were carried out in different parts of Chile to investigate his steps, I cannot find him.

The constant escape of Luis Núñez It would come to an end in February 2020 when the former crack was arrested by the Bolivian police in Cochabamba.

Bolivian police had worked in coordination with the Chilean PDI, which was following in the footsteps of the former soccer player’s wife, Jocelin Azolas. She had plans to travel to Bolivia with her daughter to settle there permanently. Núñez was found to have a falsified identity card and driver’s license.

Arrested in Chile and behind bars

On these days Núñez prepares to face the trial for the 2018 homicide where he could be sentenced to life imprisonment. From prison, the former soccer player stated that “If I get convicted, I’m going to go crazy. I am innocent”.

“I was in the place but the problem is not mine. Not if they got confused. It is a lie. I didn’t shoot, I didn’t even have a gun, ”Lucho Pato said. He assures that he did not shoot. If I had, believe me I put on my pants and take my responsibility. I’m not going to let them condemn me ”.

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