Koke: The former football star who ironically led a drug smuggling operation

Few footballers reach the highest levels of their sport, with most stuck aspiring to play in the top leagues, for others, football is a vehicle for other pursuits, sometimes wholesome, sometimes less so. This is the story of Koke, a former Spanish professional footballer with a second life as an international crimelord.

Nominative determinism is the idea that one's name can have some bearing on how that person acts, or what they choose to do in life. For Koke, his name lent itself naturally to his pursuit outside the world of football, running a drug-smuggling network...

The 39-year-old former footballer, who notably played for Olympique de Marseille between 2003 and 2005, was arrested by the Spanish police in 2019. On May 2, 2023, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 6 years in prison. 

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Koke, whose real name is Sergio Contreras Pablo. Let's look back on the career of this player who has become known more for post-retirement business than for his exploits on the field.

Born in Malaga in 1983, Sergio Contreras Pablo learned his skills in the city club. In 2003, the striker allowed his team, Malaga B, to reach the second division for the first time in its history.

With 5 goals in 43 games, he joined the professional team but did not convince his coach, who left him on the bench. Despite everything, he scored one goal in 178 minutes of play, before being transferred to Marseille in 2004.

With the Olympians, he took a little time to establish himself but, during the 2005-2006 season, he won the Intertoto Cup with OM and scored 5 goals in 24 league games.

A combative and hardworking attacker, he impressed the Marseille public but the arrival of Mamadou Niang in 2006 overshadowed Koke and he was soon surplus to requirement. He was loaned to Sporting Portugal where he scored two goals in six games.

It was then that Marseille transferred him permanently to Greece, to Aris Thessaloniki. There, Koke fulfills his potential, perhaps aided by a strong contingent of Spanish teammates. He scored 30 goals in 138 games for the Greek side. 

Koke became a respected player in the country and his performance attracted attention from the American club Houston Dynamo, which recruits him in 2011. Once again, the Spaniard will not impress and will only play seven games in MLS, and score just one goal.

Sergio Contreras Pablo will find himself travelling to play in more, erm, exotic competitions: India, Azerbaijan and even Bolivia. He finally called time on his career in 2016, after returning to Aris Thessaloniki.

Known for his strong personality on the pitch, Koke didn't have a quiet life in retirement either it seems, and the Spanish police started taking an interest in his off-field pursuits in 2019.

In November 2019, Koke was arrested in Estepona, Malaga on suspicion of leading a drug ring. The latter would then include 30 people in total, including his brother and his girlfriend.

The three individuals are then indicted but manage to leave their pre-trial detention by paying a bail of 15,000 euros. But it's not over for Koke just yet.

The investigations of the Spanish police found enough compelling evidence to show that Koke was the head of an international network of drug trafficking between the Rif (Morocco) and the Costa del Sol (Spain).

On May 2, 2023, he was sentenced to six years in prison for drug trafficking. Koke risked up to 16 years in prison but due to his early guilty plea he found managed to get the punishment downgraded. 

A sad end for a player who despite his potential, managed to fall short of dazzling on the field.