A suspected drug kingpin accused of money laundering through soccer teams has appeared in an American court after years on the run

Suspected Latin American narco trafficker Sebastian Marset made his first appearance in a US court on Monday after being handed over to US authorities.

Marset, 34, who is originally from Uruguay, is facing money laundering charges related to his alleged cocaine trafficking organization.

Marset, who ran from the police for years, was like that captured in Bolivia last week and transferred to American custody.

Marset, a well-known drug dealer in the southern part of South America, had a $2 million bounty on his head for alleged money laundering. The unsealed lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Virginia states that Marset “led a large drug trafficking organization believed to be responsible for moving tons of cocaine from South America to Europe, while generating tens of millions in cash and profits,” according to the DEA.

The Justice Department said he made his first appearance Monday in a Virginia district court.

Marset is accused of leading a major drug-trafficking organization that distributed thousands of kilograms of cocaine in Europe. According to court documents, the Marset drug trafficking organization is suspected of smuggling cocaine to Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and other places.

The soccer-loving Marset allegedly reaped the profits from his drug business by buying and sponsoring low-level professional soccer teams across Latin America and Europe — even putting them on the starting line-up.

He was arrested in his native Uruguay for drug trafficking between 2013 and 2018 and later moved to South America, living briefly in Bolivia and Paraguay.

Bolivian authorities announced Monday the seizure of approximately $15 million worth of assets from Marset, including 16 airplanes, five houses and firearms.

Federico Ezequiel Santoro Vassallo, who was close to Marset, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a US court in July after pleading guilty to money laundering.

“Santoro and Marset, allegedly, threatened violence to protect drug trafficking and money laundering,” state prosecutors said.

Marset could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of money laundering.

Imitation of football stars

A 2024 Washington Post profile said Marset paid $10,000 to wear the No. 10 jersey worn by soccer stars Pele, Maradona and Messi during his teams’ games.

He stamped his drug shipments “King of the South,” the Post added, and gave orders that the cocaine be stored in shipments of cookies and soybeans.

He has been on the run since July 2023, when he fled his home in Santa Cruz, the night before a major police operation to arrest him.

Bolivia’s center-right President Rodrigo Paz thanked “international organizations from various neighboring countries and the continent” on Friday for their cooperation in his capture.

Paz has sought to strengthen ties with the United States since winning office last year in an election that ended two decades of socialist rule that began under indigenous coca farmer Evo Morales.

Bolivia is the third largest producer of cocaine in the world, which is made from coca leaves.

Mrset’s arrest came a few weeks after the well-known cartel leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, too. known as “El Mencho,” he was killed during an operation in Mexico. He had a $15 million bounty on his head and he was he was killed during a military shootout.