According to Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Noticias, Coentrao owns three fishing boats and rented a warehouse seven months ago to start selling seafood. REUTERS/Sergio Perez (SPAIN - Tags: SPORT SOCCER)
Former Real Madrid and Portugal defender Fabio Coentrao has been caught up in an investigation into illegal seafood trade, according to the Portuguese food safety authority (Asae).
The 36-year-old retired from professional football in 2021 and moved into fishing.
According to Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Noticias, Coentrao owns three fishing boats and rented a warehouse seven months ago to start selling seafood.
On Thursday, health authorities announced the suspension of operations at three illegal warehouses in northern Portugal and the seizure of 17 tonnes of foodstuffs.
One of them housed a shellfish farm belonging to Coentrao, an Asae spokesperson told AFP.
According to Jornal de Noticias, on Wednesday inspectors went to the warehouse belonging to the former Madrid player in the northern fishing port of Povoa do Varzim, where there were 12 seawater tanks filled with lobsters and prawns.
In all, more than a tonne of shellfish was seized by the authorities due to a number of irregularities, missing invoices and lack of a trading licence.
Born in the seaside town of Vila do Conde, Coentrao amassed 52 international caps for his country and also won two Champions Leagues during his time at Real Madrid.
AFP