Gabriel Cortez, a star midfielder for Ecuador’s Barcelona SC football club and the top scorer of the country’s Serie A this season, was recently arrested for allegedly being a member of a dangerous gang involved in drug trafficking and murder.
On Friday, April 22, Ecuadorian police raided 29 properties and arrested 18 suspects as part of a complex crime-busting operation code-named Gran Impacto 10. Of the suspects, three were reportedly active police officers, and one was one of Ecuador’s top football players, 26-year-old Gabriel Cortez, the country’s top goal-scorer so far this season with seven goals in nine games. Police descended on his home via helicopter and arrested him on suspicion of being a member of Los Tiguerones, a gang that specializes in a variety of criminal activities, including drug trafficking and murder.
