Former LaLiga star accepts six-year prison sentence after confessing to leading drug trafficking ring
A former LaLiga footballer has accepted a six-year prison sentence after confessing to leading a drug trafficking ring.
Sergio Contreras, better known as Koke, agreed to a plea bargain deal at a court in Malaga after being warned state prosecutors were seeking to have him imprisoned for 16 years ahead of his trial.
The ex-striker, whose clubs included Malaga, Marseille and Sporting Lisbon, was one of 17 defendants accused of buying large amounts of drugs that were smuggled in lorries into different European countries.
Koke had been described in a pre-trial indictment as the gang leader.
The drugs were mainly marijuana and cannabis resin, but also included cocaine.
The gang Koke has now admitted he led was raided in November 2019 following a police operation codenamed Operation Vinculada that involved wiretaps and undercover follows.
One of the drug runs linked to the ex-footballer’s gang, consisting of vacuum-packed marijuana and cocaine hidden inside a cargo of garlic, was valued at £350,000.
All 16 of the defendants who showed up for a trial at Malaga’s Provincial Court on March 27, which ended up being suspended following a no-show by a 17th female defendant police are still hunting, admitted their guilt at a brief hearing on Tuesday.
As part of the plea bargain deals they struck following a subsequent period of negotiation between state prosecutors and their defence lawyers, they have agreed to accept prison sentences of between two and six years reflecting their different responsibilities in the gang.
Jail sentences for first-time offenders in Spain normally end up being suspended.
Koke, 40, started his footballing career at hometown club Malaga.
He went on to join Marseille before being loaned to Sporting Lisbon.
He produced the best football of his career in years at Greek side Aris, where the first of his two spells there included a brief cameo in a 2011 3-0 Europa League defeat to Manchester City.
The forward retired from football in 2016.