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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Zagreb – Croatian prosecutors charged on Friday Real Madrid’s Luka Modric with giving false testimony at the multi-million-euro corruption trial of Dinamo Zagreb’s powerful former chief, an offence carrying up to five years in jail.

The 32-year-old midfielder was charged with “committing the criminal offence of giving false testimony” last June during a trial against Zdravko Mamic and three others before a local tribunal, a prosecutors’ statement said.

In line with Croatian law the prosecutors did not name Modric as the indictee but identified him as a “Croatian citizen born in 1985.”

Local media identified him as Modric.

The indictment has yet to be approved by a court and the Croatia captain is currently not threatened with an arrest.

Mamic is accused – along with his brother Zoran Mamic and two others – of abuse of power and graft that cost the former Croatian champions more than €15 million, and the state €1.5 million.

Cash was allegedly embezzled through fictitious deals related to player transfers. Modric testified last June over the details of his 2008 transfer from Dinamo to Tottenham Hotspur.

From there he joined Real Madrid in 2012.

The prosecutors allege that Modric, when questioned at the tribunal, falsely said he had an annex to a contract with Dinamo over conditions for future transfers, giving him the right to a “50-50 share in transfer fees,” while still playing in Croatia.

He also falsely testified he had signed such an annex every time he extended his contract, they said.

When questioned during investigations in 2015, Modric said the annex was signed after he joined Tottenham, according to the prosecutors.

The entire amount of the transfer fee was eventually acquired by Dinamo, the prosecutors said.

Modric, also accused of tax fraud in Spain, has paid Spanish fiscal authorities close to €1 million, a judicial source in Spain said in January.

Spanish prosecutors believe he evaded €870 728 on revenue from his image rights in 2013 and 2014 via a shell company set up in Luxembourg.

Judicial authorities are still investing financial holdings belonging to the player in the Isle of Man, on which Modric refused to comment in court.

The indictment could also shake Croatia ahead of World Cup finals in Russia as Modric is the biggest star they have had since 1998, when they surprisingly reached the World Cup semi-finals, losing to eventual winners France.

Croatia play in Group D along with Argentina, Iceland and Nigeria.

The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) immediately voiced support to Modric and said in a statement it believed he would “prove his innocence as well as the indictment’s unfondness.”

The federation said they were convinced the proceedings will have @no negative impact on the performances of Croatia squad” at World Cup.

Last October, Modric was named, for the third time, to the FIFA FIFPro team selected by thousands of professional players. In 2015, he became the first Croatian voted on to the FIFPro XI.

Modric, who grew up as a refugee in Zadar on the Dalmatian coast, was highly popular in Croatia where he has a reputation for modesty.

But the testimony has tarnished Modric’s image as many Croatian fans fear it could undermine the charges against Mamic, who they believe has abused football for personal gain.

Most Croatian football fans see Mamic as the real boss of the Croatian Football Federation and believe its formal chief Davor Suker is merely his puppet.

“My conscience is clear,” the 103-capped Modric told reporters in July after being questioned within a probe on his alleged false testimony.