“The Uncle” Is The Unknown Narco Behind Rafa Márquez And Julión Álvarez

His real name is Raúl Flores Hernández, he was arrested in July but his capture was kept under wraps until United States officials linked him with more than 40 companies, including a foundation in  Rafa Márquez’s name and Julión Álvarez’s record label.

According to his court documents, he is 64 years old and has other aliases and nicknames, including “Miguel Casas Linares” and “El Señor” (The Mister).

Even though he is not considered a high profile capo by Mexican authorities, he allegedly provided money laundering services to cartels for decades. The drug trafficker’s ties to the cocaine trade date all the way back to the 1970’s, according to his indictment in San Diego, California.

Raúl Flores Hernández, better known as “El Tío” (The Uncle) has ties to the cocaine trade as a money launderer dating back to the seventies (photo: Mexican Attorney General’s Office [PGR]).
Before August, it wasn’t widely known that he is behind bars and very little information existed about him, but the Mexican Attorney General’s Office confirmed that Flores was captured July 20 in Zapopan, Jalisco, and is currently being held in the Reclusorio Sur in Mexico City.

Former head of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Mike Vigil, pointed out: “He never ran a cartel like ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán or Nemesio Oseguera (leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel), but he’s able to operate between the cartels.”

The United States sanctioned a total of 21 Mexicans and 42 companies or entities in Mexico related to Flores under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, listing Márquez and Álvarez as his accomplices in money laundering.

In a brief press appearance, Márquez denied the accusation and expressed his interest to cooperate with authorities: “In the same way that I have done throughout my professional career I will confront this, my most difficult match, and I will try to clarify all this,” he added.

The soccer superstar has stated that he will cooperate with authorities and denied his ties to drug traffickers. He later gave a voluntary declaration to the PGR (photo: abc.es).

On his part, the singer Julión Álvarez took to Facebook to declare his innocence and scheduled a press conference where he further confirmed he had nothing to do with cartels and stated his willingness to cooperate with authorities.

In spite of their statements, U.S. officials states that Raúl Flores’ network included “a signicant number of family members and trusted associates, such as Márquez and Álvarez. Both men have longstanding relationships with Flores Hernández, and have acted as front persons for him and his (drug trafficking organization) and held assets on their behalf,” the Treasury Department said.

Márquez was linked to the money launderer via nine companies, clubs and foundations headed by the former Barcelona player and Mexico team captain. Márquez’s representatives, Marco Antonio Fregoso González and Mauricio Heredia Horner were also included on the sanctions list by the Treasury Department.

U.S. authorities linked Julión Álvarez to money launderer Raúl Flores via a company identified as Ticket Boleto and two musical producers: JCAM Editora Musical and Noryban Productions (photo: Univisión).

The singer Julión Álvarez is linked to Flores through a company identified as Ticket Boleto S.A. Of C.V., and two musical producers: JCAM Editora Musical and Noryban Productions, both with addresses in Guadalara, Jalisco, and in Mazatlán, Sinaloa. The singer was sanctioned on August 9 by the U.S. Treasury Department for his alleged relationship to Flores.