By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
A federal investigation into the smuggling of Cuban baseball players to the U.S. is targeting MLB team officials, ESPN.com reports.
Professional baseball has seen a proliferation in Cuban baseball players, many of whom have been skittish about the investigation and have refused to talk to investigators from Homeland Security and the FBI.
The investigation, Operation Safety Squeeze and Operation of Summer, has gone beyond smuggler and handlers to MLB team officials who are suspected of ignoring criminal activity in order to sign highly prized players.
The MLB commissioner’s office has received two subpoenas for internal communications and other documents related to Cuban defectors and their affiliation with baseball teams
“MLB has been informed by federal law enforcement authorities that neither it nor its personnel are the focus of any criminal inquiry. MLB has consistently cooperated – and will continue to cooperate –with the appropriate government authorities to protect our Cuban players from the dangers posed by human smugglers,” said Dan Halem, Major League Baseball’s chief legal officer.
