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Octavio Dotel, 45, who has defended 13 teams during his career and won a world series with the Cardinals of St. Louis, is in custody, officials said. Former second baseman Luis Castillo stays at home in Plantation, Florida, "misled" by the charges against him, according to his lawyer.
It is unknown whether Dotel, arrested Monday in the Dominican Republic, retained the services of a lawyer.
The Attorney General's Office Jean Alain Rodriguez confirmed that it was targeting Luis Castillo who was playing for the New York Mets and Florida Marlins, not the current pitcher of the Cincinnati Reds.
These men are accused of belonging to a network of traffickers allegedly led by Cesar Peralta, according to Rodriguez, who described Peralta's operation "as one of the largest drug trafficking structures in the world." Caribbean".
Former baseball players are accused of helping to launder profits from the drug smuggling operation, Rodriguez's office told CNN, although the charges against the men are not clear.
Castillo, 43, responded to the news with "shock and surprise," said lawyer Darren Heitner. The lawyer did not know how to respond to the allegations because, he says, Rodriguez's office hung up on the phone when he called and refused to answer his questions by mail via email or Twitter.
"I simply do not have any information, and my client is as baffled by all of this," he told CNN, adding that Castillo had not been to the Dominican Republic since "I'm not sure. last year.
When he spoke to Castillo, he "denied being involved in any drug dealing," Heitner said.
In a press release issued Tuesday, Rodriguez said the authorities were looking for Peralta and were arresting or seeking to arrest 18 other people, including former baseball players. The FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration are cooperating in the investigation, he said, and the United States wants to extradite three of Peralta's lieutenants.
Prosecutors say that more than 700 prosecutors and investigators from many agencies have been involved in the destruction of the ring.
The Attorney General stated that Peralta, known as "Caesar the abuser", had been involved in the drug trade for more than two decades, climbing the ladder at the moment when other pillars of the drug had been arrested or killed.
"To enter and launder the illicit money from drug trafficking, Caesar the abuser also created a complex corporate framework that concealed the origin of his fortune, using many individuals from his family and his social circle to hide his property, including two sports Dominican Republic, "he said in a statement.
On Monday, the US Treasury Department's Foreign Assets Control Bureau listed members of the Peralta organization based in Santo Domingo as traffickers within the meaning of the Foreign Narcotics Designation Act, the group said. in a statement.
"Cesar Emilio Peralta and his criminal organization used violence and corruption in the Dominican Republic to transport tons of cocaine and opioids to the United States and Europe," said Sigal Mandelker, Under-Secretary for Terrorism and Terrorism. financial information.
The Ministry of Finance has also designated six Peralta companies, including some of the nightclubs, as key instruments in the trafficking of Colombian and Venezuelan women and in money laundering, the statement said.
Dotel spent 15 years at MLB. In addition to his title in World Series 2011, he was part of the 2013 Dominican team that won the World Baseball Classic.
Third baseball player Gold Glove, Castillo also played for 15 years in the pros, winning a World Series title with the Florida Marlins before ending his career with the Minnesota Twins and New York Mets.
Both men are married and have children.
Patrick Oppmann from CNN contributed to this report.
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