In December 1996, Racing and Albacete in the junior category competed in one of the semifinals of the Christmas soccer tournament that was held in Brunete (Madrid). Two children, one from Cantabria, Jonatan Valle, and another from La Mancha, Andrés Iniesta, amazed the spectators who witnessed the match live or on television. Racing was proclaimed champion after beating Espanyol in the final, and Iniesta was declared the best player of the tournament. It was an individual award not without some controversy, precisely because many considered that Valle, the star of the team that won the title, should have won it. Both kids went through stages until they became professional footballers, but their boots followed very different paths. Almost opposite. Thus, after 28 years and after both have retired, while Iniesta presents an immaculate and dazzling service record that has made him a reference in Spanish and world football, Valle was arrested last week by the police in an operation against drug trafficking. According to what ‘El Diario Montañés’ published this Friday, “the National Police has arrested the former Racing player Jonatan Valle as the alleged perpetrator of a drug trafficking crime within the framework of the operation ‘Fire’, which has left another ten arrested in Cantabria. «Last week the agents searched the former soccer player’s house in Mortera, where they found numerous utensils such as precision scales and other equipment that are used to prepare doses of cocaine ready for sale, papers, also different quantities of that drug and cash. . The former great promise of the green and white quarry, who is now 39 years old, is on provisional release with charges awaiting trial,” adds the Cantabrian newspaper. “The investigations first identified a distribution branch based in Santander, promoted by an individual who distributed cocaine at retail on a small scale. He served clients at home and also in different parts of the city, always hidden in the taxi in which he worked; but he was not alone. He had a close collaborator in the distribution of this narcotic substance and two other suppliers who supplied him with the drugs that he later distributed…” “On November 20, the investigation concluded with the entry and search of seven properties, and the arrest of ten of the eleven involved in Santander and other municipalities in Cantabria, including Jonatan Valle… During the searches, the agents seized 3,500 doses of cocaine, with a total weight of two kilograms… They also found 260 grams of hashish, six grams of MDMA (ecstasy), ten precision scales, four vacuum sealers and various bags with circular cutouts… In the searches carried out, a vehicle, 26,800 euros, a firearm were also seized , fourteen knives, fourteen mobile phones and eighteen watches. The eleven detainees, of which seven of them had criminal records, were brought before the court, which decided to commit two men to prison. To know the monetary value of what was seized, the 3,500 papers would reach a value in the illicit market of about 250,000 euros. Valle’s arrest is the latest chapter in a list of news that describes the difficult life path of the former Santander soccer player. His enormous quality has been weighed down by a careless and problematic personality. In 2003, the year of his debut in Primera wearing the Racing shirt, he already experienced his first trouble when he was involved in a late-night fight in a bar. From there he accumulated traffic fines, withdrawal of his driver’s license, a positive alcohol test and some other scandals with fans and teammates. This propensity for trouble has led him to change teams and football categories frequently. After leaving his hometown, he played for the following clubs: Málaga, Ponferradina, Castellón, Leganés, Rubin Kazán (Russia), Recreativo, Lugo and Burgos.
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