A FORMER Real Madrid footballer is among 18 people arrested when Spanish cops smashed an alleged cocaine smuggling ring.

Colombian striker Edwin Congo, 43, was quizzed by detectives probing an ingenious operation to traffic drugs “across Europe” from South America layered in cardboard fruit boxes.

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Congo was signed by Madrid boss John Toshack for £4.3 million in 1999 before the Welshman was sacked for the second time.

And bizarrely he never played an official game for the Spanish giants – although he hit the headlines in 2017 by scoring in a friendly for Real Madrid legends against Liverpool at Anfield.

Details his arrest emerged after the seizure of ton of cocaine which had been impregnated in the layers of boxes carrying limes and pineapples.

Footage released by Spanish police today showed the extraordinary lengths the traffickers went to.
Drug barons flew corrupt chemists to Holland to extract the cocaine from the cardboard, cops said.

Once extracted, the drug was shipped across Europe, investigators say.

And the Colombian kingpins allegedly sought help from Spanish cartel Los Castanitas to ensure the logistical success of their operation.

Francisco Tejon, an alleged leader of Los Castanas nicknamed Isco like the Real Madrid midfielder, made headlines in 2018 by starring in a YouTube music video surrounded by scantily-clad women while he was on the run.

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Spain’s National Police said today: “The organisation that has been smashed had its operational base in Spain and allegedly used a sophisticated system to hide the drugs which involved impregnating the cocaine between the superimposed layers of paper during the elaboration of the cardboard boxes.

“The cocaine was subsequently extracted through complex chemical processes.

“Each box contained small quantities of the drug, less than 100 grams, which were sent from Colombia to Europe in transport containers with pineapples and limes.”

Chemical products needed to extract the drug from the cardboard were seized in a police operation in Holland.

‘THE SURGEON’ LINK

The ton of pure cocaine was seized in Bulgarian capital Sofia after undercover cops tracked it from Greece.

Spanish cops added: “The investigation began around a year ago when police detected the illegal activities of an individual nicknamed ‘The Surgeon’ or ‘Little Doctor’, who had been arrested a few years ago for drugs trafficking and was well-known to officers.

“This person, a doctor whose patients included a famous footballer, used his clinic among other purposes for negotiations with other people linked to the probe.”

Nine of the 18 arrests took place in Span, four in Bulgaria, three in Holland and two in Colombia.

Edwin Congo, who has appeared on Spanish TV sports show El Chiringuito since retiring, has been released by police and is protesting his innocence.

He has not been charged with any crime but has been warned he faces more questioning at a later date.

He said on the TV show: “It’s not a comfortable situation for me but I am home and very calm.

“I’ve been asked a serious of questions and the police showed me photos of people.

“They’ve told me I have to steer clear of people that are no good for me, that I had to be more conscious of things and do things differently.”

He added: “I’ve got nothing to do with cocaine or cocaine trafficking, nothing at all.

“I’ve done business with emeralds with one of the people in the photos, that’s all.”

Congo was loaned to Spanish sides Valladolid and Vitoria and also had a loan spell with French side Toulouse in his three years on the books at Real Madrid

He represented Colombia 17 times and played at the 1999 and 2004 Copa America tournaments.

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A FORMER Real Madrid footballer is among 18 people arrested when Spanish cops smashed an alleged cocaine smuggling ring.

Colombian striker Edwin Congo, 43, was quizzed by detectives probing an ingenious operation to traffic drugs “across Europe” from South America layered in cardboard fruit boxes.

12

12

Congo was signed by Madrid boss John Toshack for £4.3 million in 1999 before the Welshman was sacked for the second time.

And bizarrely he never played an official game for the Spanish giants – although he hit the headlines in 2017 by scoring in a friendly for Real Madrid legends against Liverpool at Anfield.

Details his arrest emerged after the seizure of ton of cocaine which had been impregnated in the layers of boxes carrying limes and pineapples.

Footage released by Spanish police today showed the extraordinary lengths the traffickers went to.
Drug barons flew corrupt chemists to Holland to extract the cocaine from the cardboard, cops said.

Once extracted, the drug was shipped across Europe, investigators say.

And the Colombian kingpins allegedly sought help from Spanish cartel Los Castanitas to ensure the logistical success of their operation.

Francisco Tejon, an alleged leader of Los Castanas nicknamed Isco like the Real Madrid midfielder, made headlines in 2018 by starring in a YouTube music video surrounded by scantily-clad women while he was on the run.

12

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Spain’s National Police said today: “The organisation that has been smashed had its operational base in Spain and allegedly used a sophisticated system to hide the drugs which involved impregnating the cocaine between the superimposed layers of paper during the elaboration of the cardboard boxes.

“The cocaine was subsequently extracted through complex chemical processes.

“Each box contained small quantities of the drug, less than 100 grams, which were sent from Colombia to Europe in transport containers with pineapples and limes.”

Chemical products needed to extract the drug from the cardboard were seized in a police operation in Holland.

‘THE SURGEON’ LINK

The ton of pure cocaine was seized in Bulgarian capital Sofia after undercover cops tracked it from Greece.

Spanish cops added: “The investigation began around a year ago when police detected the illegal activities of an individual nicknamed ‘The Surgeon’ or ‘Little Doctor’, who had been arrested a few years ago for drugs trafficking and was well-known to officers.

“This person, a doctor whose patients included a famous footballer, used his clinic among other purposes for negotiations with other people linked to the probe.”

Nine of the 18 arrests took place in Span, four in Bulgaria, three in Holland and two in Colombia.

Edwin Congo, who has appeared on Spanish TV sports show El Chiringuito since retiring, has been released by police and is protesting his innocence.

He has not been charged with any crime but has been warned he faces more questioning at a later date.

He said on the TV show: “It’s not a comfortable situation for me but I am home and very calm.

“I’ve been asked a serious of questions and the police showed me photos of people.

“They’ve told me I have to steer clear of people that are no good for me, that I had to be more conscious of things and do things differently.”

He added: “I’ve got nothing to do with cocaine or cocaine trafficking, nothing at all.

“I’ve done business with emeralds with one of the people in the photos, that’s all.”

Congo was loaned to Spanish sides Valladolid and Vitoria and also had a loan spell with French side Toulouse in his three years on the books at Real Madrid

He represented Colombia 17 times and played at the 1999 and 2004 Copa America tournaments.

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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana —

Prosecutors filed felony charges on Wednesday against an immigrant illegally living in the U.S. who is suspected in a drunken-driving crash that killed Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and an Uber driver.

Manuel Orrego-Savala, who is from Guatemala and has twice been deported from the U.S., is charged with causing death while driving intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. The 37-year-old said little during his initial court hearing, responding through an interpreter as the judge explained the proceedings and charges.

“He’s very distraught to say the least,” said his lawyer, Jorge Torres. “He’s very confused.”

Investigators said Orrego-Savala was driving the pickup truck that hit Jackson and his Uber driver, 54-year-old Jeffrey Monroe, while the men were standing outside Monroe’s car early Sunday along Interstate 70. Court documents allege a blood test conducted at a hospital determined Orrego-Savala had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than double Indiana’s legal limit for driving.

The two most serious charges each carry maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Orrego-Savala was deported in 2007 and 2009, and was again living illegally in the U.S. at the time of the crash, according to investigators. He was charged late Tuesday by federal prosecutors with illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien. He faces up to 10 years in prison on that charge, which the U.S. attorney’s office said would be handled after any state charges are resolved.

President Donald Trump drew added attention to the case on Twitter, calling the highway collision that killed Jackson and Monroe “disgraceful.” The president also prodded Democrats to work with him on illegal immigration and border security.

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry criticized the comments, saying his office would “vigorously prosecute” the fatal crash case regardless of whether Orrego-Savala was in the country illegally.

“We are disheartened that ghoulish and inappropriate public commentary has politicized this tragedy,” the Democratic prosecutor said in a statement. “Much of such commentary, including tweets by the president, fails to acknowledge that both Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe lost their lives on Sunday. We will simply seek justice on behalf of the families of those two victims.”

Torres also said that Orrego-Savala’s immigration status has no bearing on the crash case. The attorney noted his client has been living and doing construction work in the Indianapolis area for several years.

A spokesman for Jackson’s family has said his relatives are devastated and planned no response to Trump’s tweets about the crash and the suspect’s immigration status.

“The family is in shock, as you can imagine. This obviously happened so unexpectedly,” Atlanta attorney Daniel Meachum said.

Investigators said they believe Orrego-Savala was intoxicated at the time of the Indiana crash.

Orrego-Savala had a 2005 conviction for driving under the influence in Redwood City, California. He also has numerous other misdemeanor convictions and arrests in California and Indiana, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Nicole Alberico.

In the 2005 case, he pleaded no contest to two separate drunken-driving offenses and was given a brief jail sentence, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Tuesday.

Orrego-Savala remains jailed in Indianapolis. Federal and county prosecutors spell his name as “Orrego-Zavala” in charging documents, but his attorney said his name is spelled Orrego-Savala, a spelling listed among his aliases in the federal documents.

He appeared Tuesday before a judge who advised him of his rights. Indianapolis television station WRTV reported that Orrego-Savala told the judge through an interpreter: “I wasn’t driving the car. I don’t know why I am here.”

A police news release did not mention the presence of anyone else in the pickup truck.

INDIANAPOLIS —

Prosecutors filed felony charges on Wednesday against an immigrant illegally living in the U.S. who is suspected in a drunken-driving crash that killed Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and an Uber driver.

Manuel Orrego-Savala, who is from Guatemala and has twice been deported from the U.S., is charged with causing death while driving intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. The 37-year-old said little during his initial court hearing, responding through an interpreter as the judge explained the proceedings and charges.

“He’s very distraught to say the least,” said his lawyer, Jorge Torres. “He’s very confused.”

Investigators said Orrego-Savala was driving the pickup truck that hit Jackson and his Uber driver, 54-year-old Jeffrey Monroe, while the men were standing outside Monroe’s car early Sunday along Interstate 70. Court documents allege a blood test conducted at a hospital determined Orrego-Savala had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than double Indiana’s legal limit for driving.

The two most serious charges each carry maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Orrego-Savala was deported in 2007 and 2009, and was again living illegally in the U.S. at the time of the crash, according to investigators. He was charged late Tuesday by federal prosecutors with illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien. He faces up to 10 years in prison on that charge, which the U.S. attorney’s office said would be handled after any state charges are resolved.

President Donald Trump drew added attention to the case on Twitter, calling the highway collision that killed Jackson and Monroe “disgraceful.” The president also prodded Democrats to work with him on illegal immigration and border security.

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry criticized the comments, saying his office would “vigorously prosecute” the fatal crash case regardless of whether Orrego-Savala was in the country illegally.

“We are disheartened that ghoulish and inappropriate public commentary has politicized this tragedy,” the Democratic prosecutor said in a statement. “Much of such commentary, including tweets by the president, fails to acknowledge that both Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe lost their lives on Sunday. We will simply seek justice on behalf of the families of those two victims.”

Torres also said that Orrego-Savala’s immigration status has no bearing on the crash case. The attorney noted his client has been living and doing construction work in the Indianapolis area for several years.

A spokesman for Jackson’s family has said his relatives are devastated and planned no response to Trump’s tweets about the crash and the suspect’s immigration status.

“The family is in shock, as you can imagine. This obviously happened so unexpectedly,” Atlanta attorney Daniel Meachum said.

Investigators said they believe Orrego-Savala was intoxicated at the time of the Indiana crash.

Orrego-Savala had a 2005 conviction for driving under the influence in Redwood City, California. He also has numerous other misdemeanor convictions and arrests in California and Indiana, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Nicole Alberico.

In the 2005 case, he pleaded no contest to two separate drunken-driving offenses and was given a brief jail sentence, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Tuesday.

Orrego-Savala remains jailed in Indianapolis. Federal and county prosecutors spell his name as “Orrego-Zavala” in charging documents, but his attorney said his name is spelled Orrego-Savala, a spelling listed among his aliases in the federal documents.

He appeared Tuesday before a judge who advised him of his rights. Indianapolis television station WRTV reported that Orrego-Savala told the judge through an interpreter: “I wasn’t driving the car. I don’t know why I am here.”

A police news release did not mention the presence of anyone else in the pickup truck.