Ex Colombia soccer star arrested for drug shipments
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BOGOTA — Former Southampton and Portsmouth midfielder Jhon Viafara has been arrested in his native Colombia on a U.S. drug warrant.
Colombia’s chief prosecutor’s office said Wednesday that prosecutors in Texas believe Viafara was part of a criminal network tied to the nation’s feared Gulf cartel, which for a decade moved large shipments of cocaine on fast boats and semi-submersible through the Pacific Ocean to Central America and onto the U.S.
He was arrested Tuesday along with four other people near the southern city of Cali after being involved in a car accident. Police say he was speeding while driving intoxicated.
The 40-year-old Viafara played on several Colombian club teams and the national team as well as Portsmouth, Southampton and Spain’s Real Sociedad before retiring in 2015.
