Colombian soccer star who played in the Premier League and La Liga is arrested and set to be extradited to the U.S. for ‘trafficking five kilos of cocaine over ten years’

• Jhon Viáfara and four other suspects were apprehended during a Tuesday raid
• Colombian narcotics agents acting on an arrest warrant issued by a federal court in Texas nabbed the former soccer player in the Cauca Valley department
• Prosecutors with a federal Texas court say Viáfara was associated with the Gulf’s Clan Cartel and sent more than five kilos of cocaine from 2008 to 2018
• Viáfara was transferred to Bogota, and is expected to be extradited to the United States to face charges 
• The 40-year-old played for English sides Portsmouth and Southampton and had a short stint in La Liga with Real Sociedad

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A former member of the Colombian national soccer team, who once played in the Premier League and La Liga, has been arrested for his alleged role in cocaine trafficking.

Jhon Viáfara, 40, was arrested by narcotic law enforcement agents during a Tuesday raid at a home in the Cauca Valley department in southwestern Colombia.

Colombian officials were acting on a United States arrest warrant, served last Friday, that called for Viáfara’s extradition.

He reportedly sent more than five kilos of cocaine during a 10-year period from 2008 to 2018.

Former Colombian footballer Jhon Viáfara is being held by Colombia’s National Police after he was arrested Tuesday. He is expected to be extradited to the United States on an arrest warrant that charges he was associated with the Gulf’s Clan Cartel in shipping cocaine 

The former midfielder with the Colombian national team (left) allegedly worked with the Gulf’s Clan Cartel to send more than five kilos of cocaine to the United States from 2008 to 2018 

Jhon Viáfara played from 2005 to 2006 with Portsmouth, which also included a loan in 2006 to Spanish side Real Sociedad. He was a member of Southampton from 2006 to 2008

The former Colombian international midfielder played from 2005 to 2006 with English side Portsmouth when they were in the Premier League. He spent a period of the season on loan to Spanish La Liga side Real Sociedad.

From 2006 to 2008 he played with English Football League side Southampton.

He then returned to Colombia and played his last six years in the top league, Primera A, before retiring from the pitch in 2015. 

According to the Colombian National Police, Viáfara was directly linked to the Clan del Golfo Cartel [Gulf’s Clan].

Prosecutors at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas charged that between 2008 and 2018 Viáfara was part of a network that sent large shipments of cocaine on fast boats and semi-submersible through the Pacific Ocean to Central America with the U.S. being the final destination.

Viáfara was one of five suspects arrested during Tuesday’s raid in southwestern Colombia

Viáfara (first from right in the second row) retired from competition in 2015

Viáfara and four other suspects arrested in operation were taken to the capital city of Bogota where officials would complete the process to transfer them to the custody of U.S. officials.

His father, José Viáfara, told CNN Español on Wednesday that he expected his son to prove his innocence in court.

‘He’s going to show that what he has earned is earned justly and what he is saying is for us to be very calm,’ José Viáfara said.

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He is the second Colombian soccer player that has been involved in a drug trafficking case in the last two months.

Diego León Osorio, who starred for Atlético Nacional in the domestic league and briefly formed part of the Colombian national team, was sentenced to five years of house arrest in February.

He had tried to smuggle a kilo of cocaine hidden in his underpants onto an flight to Spain in 2016.

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