Sebastian Marset always wanted to play football: when he was young, working at a gas station, he spent his entire salary on a David Beckham sports jacket.
Marset and his friends grew up playing in the street, making goals with stones and using markers to write numbers on the backs.
But from his time as a semi-professional footballer it was clear that he lacked the quality to take his career further.
It was clear to some that Marset’s football desire was inspired by money, after his friends saw him walking home from clubs because he couldn’t pay for the bus after rubbing shoulders with the wealthiest members of society.
Instead, the Uruguayan dedicated himself to a life of crime, where he attempted to cultivate the nickname “The King of the South.”
Sebastián Marset had always dreamed of being a professional footballer
His first interaction with the Monteviedo criminal underworld was, in fact, quite minor, as reported by the Washington Post.
He was arrested for possession of stolen goods at age 18 and for possession of narcotics a year later.
However, it wasn’t long before he was trusted with much more: at age 22, Marset accepted the job of receiving a shipment of marijuana, a job normally assigned to a team of men, but one that had earned the trust of the men. traffickers.
But the police had been notified and Marset was harassed by the officers, where he immediately surrendered, although one officer recalled that he was astute and respectful.
After taking his mugshot, one of the officers recalled telling a colleague, “This guy is going to be a big problem for us one day.”
It wasn’t long before his concerns seemed to come true, as Marset was released from prison in 2018, aged 27, with a string of criminal contacts.
Marset joined Deportivo Capiatá in 2021 where he offered players large sums of money for victories.
Deportivo Capiatá’s biggest victory was against the Argentine giant Boca Juniors
He managed to forge connections with Brazilian and Italian organized crime networks and it wouldn’t be long before he traveled to Paraguay to build his empire.
There he would forge his first alias, with the name Gabriel de Souza Beumer.
In 2021 Marset made his first foray into football, where he ended up at Deportivo Capiatá, announcing himself as a new signing from his silver Lamborghini.
There he made a deal with his teammates that he would pay them thousands of dollars on top of their current contracts for each victory.
The only problem was that Marset had paid his way into a starting spot, wearing a number 10 shirt that his performances fell short of as Capiatá struggled to win games.
Capiatá was the pride of the Asunción suburb, the club had claimed the ubspet from Boca Juniors in 2014.
But the following years were difficult for Capiatá and they were relegated to Paraguay’s second division.
After his arrival in 2021, Marset began to finance improvements for the team, there were new televisions, physio beds and better food in the cafeteria.
Although not officially listed as the owner, investigators say he was investing money in the club and taking a portion of its income, Marset was laundering money through Capiatá.
Coach Jorge Núñez had no intention of starting the drug dealer until the players surrounded the coach and insisted that Marset had to play.
After joining the club, Marset spent thousands to improve the facilities at Deportivo Capiatá
“I kept asking myself, ‘Who is this guy?’ Núñez said, adding: ‘I had an obligation to win or they would fire me.
But for him it was not the same. He was just having fun.
Marset seemed relatively calm about the potential to raise his profile by playing professional football, until May 2021, when he learned that agents were trying to find him.
His training with Capiatá was stopped and his name was quickly removed from the team. Although none of his teammates in Paraguay heard from him again, Marset did not stop playing soccer.
After running aground, in 2023 it was revealed that the drug trafficker now lived in Bolivia and that same year he is said to have purchased Los Leones El Torno FC.
Only this time Marset followed in his idol’s footsteps and finally wore the number 23, made famous by David Beckham during his time at Real Madrid.
After speaking to Channel 4, Marset appears to have gone underground again with the authorities lurking.