MEXICO CITY (AP) - Legendary Mexican soccer player Rafael Marquez Alvarez and a well-known band leader are among 22 people sanctioned for alleged ties to a drug trafficking organization, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday.
The sanctions are the result of a multi-year investigation of the drug trafficking organization allegedly headed by Raul Flores Hernandez, the department said in a statement.
It will also sanction 43 entities in Mexico, including a soccer team and casino.
It is the single largest such designation of a drug trafficking organization ever by its Office of Foreign Assets Control, the statement said.
Marquez, 38, is a former defender for Barcelona, Monaco and New York Red Bulls who currently plays for the Mexican soccer club Atlas in Guadalajara and is captain of the Mexican national team. He did not practice with Atlas on Wednesday.
Messages left for Marquez's agent, Enrique Nieto, seeking comment were not immediately answered.
Flores Hernandez allegedly operated independently in the northern city of Guadalajara but maintained alliances with the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels. According to federal court records, Flores Hernandez was arrested July 20 and is pending extradition.
The Mexican Attorney General's Office also seized related assets Wednesday, including the Grand Casino near Guadalajara, according to the U.S. statement.
Mexican prosecutors said they were working closely with U.S. authorities on the investigation and added Marquez came voluntarily to the Attorney General's Office to provide a statement Wednesday.