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Report: Former MLBers Dotel, Castillo linked to organized crime sting

Mark Cunningham / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Former Major League Baseball player Octavio Dotel has been arrested in the Dominican Republic on drug trafficking charges, according to Dionisio Soldevila of Hoy Digital.

Another ex-MLBer, former All-Star infielder Luis Castillo, was cited by Dominican police for his involvement, according to the Associated Press. Castillo was previously said to have already been arrested, but police have yet to take him into custody, per the AP.

Dotel and Castillo were allegedly part of a larger drug trafficking and money laundering operation headed by Cesar "El Abusador" Peralta, the Dominican Republic's lead prosecutor said, James Wagner of The New York Times reports.

Castillo denied the allegations on Instagram.

"The truth is my country no longer works. My God, do you think that after making millions of dollars in baseball I am going to dirty my hands with drugs?" the former Gold Glove winner wrote in Spanish, as translated by the AP.

The office of the attorney general said the arrests are part of the "largest operation against organized crime" in the Dominican Republic, Marly Rivera of ESPN reports.

Authorities are still seeking Peralta, and the FBI and DEA have become involved in the investigation, Wagner adds.

Peralta is thought to have set up the June shooting of David Ortiz, according to La Vida's Jose de Jesus Ortiz.

Dotel retired from baseball in 2014 following a 15-year career during which he set the record for the most teams played for in major-league history with 13 - a mark which was surpassed this season by right-handed pitcher Edwin Jackson.

The reliever authored a 3.78 ERA and recorded 109 saves over 758 total appearances, including 34 starts early in his career.

Castillo, a three-time All-Star, won a World Series with the then-Florida Marlins in 2003.

The 43-year-old might be best remembered for his involvement in one of the most surprising walk-off wins in baseball history.

While playing second base for the New York Mets in the Subway Series against the Yankees on June 12, 2009, Castillo dropped an easy pop fly off the bat of Alex Rodriguez to allow two runs to cross the plate.

Castillo last played for the Philadelphia Phillies organization in 2011 but was released before the season began.

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