Pele admits son's drug, gang ties
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-08 08:33

A teary-eyed Pele admitted Tuesday that his son was involved with a gang of cocaine traffickers arrested by police a day earlier.

Soccer legend Edson Arantes do Nascimento, popularly known as Pele, cries during a news conference in a police station in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Tuesday, June 7, 2005. Edson Cholbi Nascimento, the son of Pele, was arrested Monday in an operation to dismantle a drug gang in southeastern Brazil, police said. Nascimento, 35, was arrested along with some 50 other people after an eight-month investigation into a cocaine trafficking operation in the port city of Santos, some 44 miles (70 kilometers) southeast of Sao Paulo, said Antonio Carlos Silveira, a spokesman for Sao Paulo's state police. [AP]

"Like any father, it's sad to see your son involved with groups like these, being arrested, because he will have to suffer the consequences," Pele said at a press conference at the state police narcotics division headquarters.

Edson Cholbi Nascimento, 35, a former professional soccer player known as Edinho, was among about 50 people arrested Monday in the seaside city of Santos, about 45 miles southeast of Sao Paulo.

"Those who know Edinho and lived with him could hardly imagine that this would happen," Pele said. "Unfortunately, I was perhaps working too much and didn't notice. It's regrettable, because I've always fought intensely against drugs and I didn't notice this in my own house."

Nascimento was charged with criminal association with drug traffickers. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

In a statement released to the press, Nascimento said he began using drugs out of curiosity after he quit professional soccer and regretted having set a bad example. 

Nascimento was a second-string goalkeeper for eight years on Santos, Pele's former club. He retired from professional soccer in 1999.

The same year, Nascimento was convicted of vehicular homicide for taking part in a 1992 car race on a city street that killed a motorcyclist. He was sentenced to six years in a work-release program.

Lawyers for Nascimento, who spent the night in jail and was to be transferred to a detention center later Tuesday, said they believed he would be released on bail. They also said they hoped to have the charges against him reduced to simple drug use, rather than criminal association.

Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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