According to the Dominican Republic's attorney general, two former World Series champs were arrested Tuesday for alleged connection to the "largest operation against organized crime ever conducted in the country."
Octavio Dotel and Luis Castillo, who're both from the Dominican Republic, were arrested along with 16 others in a sting to net a drug ring led by César Emilio Peralta.
Members of the group were allegedly transporting illicit drugs through the Dominican Republic to the U.S. from South America.
“Cesar Emilio Peralta and his criminal organization have used violence and corruption in the Dominican Republic to traffic tons of cocaine and opioids into the United States and Europe,” Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a news release. “Treasury is targeting these Dominican drug kingpins, their front persons, and the nightclubs they have used to launder money and traffic women.”
Winning a World Series for the Minnesota Twins, Castillo also played for the then-Florida Marlins and the New York Mets.
Dotel played in two World Series, one in 2012 for the Detroit Tigers and in 2011 for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The sweep included agents and 700 people from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, and Dominican Republic's National Drug Control Directorate.
It's not clear wither the two ex-players will face trial in the U.S. or in the Dominican Republic.
In an Instagram post, Castillo denies the claims. “The truth is my country no longer works, my God, do you think that after making millions of dollars in Baseball I am going to dirty my hands with drugs?” Castillo reportedly wrote.