Soccer player Gabriel Cortez, scorer from Ecuador, arrested for alleged nexus with criminal gang | Other Soccer Leagues

Barcelona midfielder from Ecuador, Gabriel Cortez, top scorer in the Ecuadorian league with 7 goals in 9 games, is one of the 18 people arrested this 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, Cortez’s arrest was confirmed by the Minister of the Interior, Patricio Carrillo, during a press conference from Esmeraldas where he assured that the 26-year-old soccer player “ordered and received information regarding the people who assassins” had murdered.

In social networks, the photo of Cortez at the time of his arrest, guarded by two heavily armed policemen, was spread, while Barcelona, ​​leader of the first phase of the Ecuadorian league.

Cortez, nicknamed ‘el Loco’, is one of the figures of the current soccer tournament in Ecuador, accumulating seven goals in the first nine days. Without going any further, the midfielder participated until last Wednesday in the 0-1 defeat of his club against Gualaceo, one of the most modest teams in the Ecuadorian league.

Barcelona, ​​surprised

In a statement, Barcelona anticipated that “it will respect the proceedings and investigations of the justice bodies” and disclaimed any responsibility or complicity in the alleged crimes committed by Cortez, who previously wore the shirts of the Brazilian Botofogo and the Lobos BUAP of Mexico.

In that sense, the Guayaquil club clarified that “the activities carried out in the private sphere by its players and managers are alien to the institution.” The sports institution also indicated that it will wait for the resolutions that the Justice takes to evaluate what measures it takes with respect to the player.

In addition to the soccer player, among the 18 detainees there are three police officers on active duty. During the police operation, raids were carried out on 29 properties that also resulted in the seizure of three vehicles, 14 mobile phones, three surveillance cameras and one kilo of drugs.

The operation, called “Operation Great Impact 10”, was carried out by the Ecuadorian National Police together with the State Attorney General’s Office against the criminal gang called “Los Tiguerones”.

Authorities link “Los Tiguerones” to the Oliver Sinisterra Front, a dissident group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that operates near the border with Ecuador and is blamed for the kidnapping and murder of three Ecuadorian journalists in 2018.

According to the general commander of the Ecuadorian Police, the arrests were made after an investigation that lasted four months where the information was collected to request the arrest warrants from the Justice. The Ecuadorian authorities charge “Los Tiguerones” with the crimes of drug trafficking, terrorism, murder, contract killings, extortion, illegal arms trafficking and explosive ammunition.