Rafael Márquez is no longer investigated by the United States Department of the Treasury

The former Mexican soccer player was being investigated for alleged links with organized crime

Guadalajara – Former soccer player Rafael Márquez was removed from the blacklist of the United States Department of the Treasury.

On August 9, 2017, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that the artist Julión Álvarez was also on its list, along with 20 other alleged names of a network that would be directed by the drug trafficker Raúl Flores, who was mobilizing in Jalisco and Mexico City.

The consequence was that Márquez’s visa was canceled, his accounts and properties in the United States were frozen, in addition to the fact that any American company was prohibited from negotiating or carrying out transactions with him and the rest of the characters included in the list along with new indicated companies, such as the Rafa Márquez AC Soccer School, which was used to launder drug money.

OFAC also consigned Mauricio Heredia and Marco Antonio Fregoso on its list, for carrying out actions on behalf of the then professional player.

The Treasury Department also included four properties, of which two were located in Jalisco, and others in Guanajuato, and Mexico City.

At that time, Márquez was playing his last stage as a professional footballer at Atlas, and while his situation was clarifying, he left training to reappear on September 18,.

It was on October 25, 2017 when OFAC informed him that he could return to his sports activities, for which he played the Clásico Tapatío against Chivas in the Copa MX.

Márquez had already obtained a definitive Amparo for his blocked rehabilitation and sports medicine companies.

The “Kaiser” retired with the Atlas in the Clausura 2018, and was allowed to play the 2018 World Cup in Russia to play his fifth World Cup.

However, as he was still included in the blacklist of the United States Department of the Treasury, he came with several restrictions such as not drinking from the same advertising water bottles that his selected teammates drink, not wearing the same uniform during training , nor appear in front of the logos of the sponsors.

Due to the closure of the Rafa Márquez Children’s Center in Tonalá, 250 children were left without the service of said school.