Brazilian football legend Pele (64) broke into tears during a press conference in Sao Paolo as he spoke about his son’s arrest and now-established drug habit.
”It’s regrettable because I’ve always fought intensely against drugs, and I didn’t notice this in my own house,” the football great said.
He might have been working too much to notice, Pele admitted on Tuesday.
According to media reports, Pele also wept while visiting his son, Edinho, in prison. Edinho (35) had been arrested on Monday in his apartment in Santos, a seaport in Sao Paulo state, and charged in connection with a drug investigation.
Another 52 suspects were also detained during the raid, including the alleged chief of a drug gang, Ronaldo de Freitas.
Edinho reportedly at first denied any involvement with drug trafficking under police questioning. He later admitted in a statement released to the press that he has been addicted to drugs for years.
”I’m a wreck … and ask for help,” the statement said.
Edinho, whose full name is Edson Choubi de Nascimento, was arrested partly on the basis of eight month of telephone tapping by police. The police chief in charge said the recordings provided, among other things, evidence for transactions between Edinho and drug dealers.
”We have enough information for the indictment,” he said.
Edinho is a former goalkeeper who had a short-lived football career with several first-division teams in Sao Paulo state. Since the end of his football career in 1999, he has been working as a football agent and impresario. – Sapa-DPA