A Mexican Soccer Icon Entered Politics. Prosecutors Say Narcos Followed

It was supposed to be a festive occasion. Regional politicians, officials and military officers gathered in the Morelos state capital of Cuernavaca for breakfast in February 2022 to mark Mexico’s annual Army day. Cuauhtémoc Blanco, a former Mexican soccer star and the state’s governor, celebrated with red wine. But he wasn’t happy.

Among those in attendance was state Attorney General Uriel Carmona – who had recently been asked by state legislators to investigate the governor’s suspected ties to drug traffickers. As Carmona moved to shake Blanco’s hand and bid him goodbye, the attorney general alleges, the governor grabbed his arm. Blanco said he’d been tipped off that another prosecutor was sniffing around his eldest son’s financial accounts.

A line had been crossed, the barrel-chested Blanco said, and warned: “Now I’m going to mess with your families, and I’m not going to hold back.”