Spanish drug police have arrested a professional footballer, two former players and two Fifa-licensed agents after a multi-million euro cocaine bust.

Police officers announced tonight that they uncovered a 600kg (1,320-pound) package of the drug in a Madrid warehouse.

The current footballer in custody plays for Rayo Vallecano, a second division team in Madrid, he was arrested with ten others including one player who used to represent the top-division side Athletic Bilbao.

Of the two sports agents, one is Spanish and the other is a Serbian-born French citizen, according to a police official speaking anonymously.

The French suspect, allegedly the leader of the drug ring, often travelled to South America to handle player signings and used these trips to establish contacts for shipping drugs to Europe, the police statement said.

A National Police official declined to say how much the cocaine was worth but said it was extremely pure. The Spanish newspaper website El Pais quoted local experts saying that, once cut and sold by small-scale dealers, it would have fetched more than 70 million euros.

The cocaine was brought to Spain by ship from Argentina via Tangiers, Morocco, and hidden in a container among wind-power generation equipment.

The arrests were made last night in Madrid, Valencia and Alicante.

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