Miami Fusion midfielder Diego Serna celebrates after making the Fusion's only goal of the first half against the Tampa Bay Mutiny at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Saturday, May 29, 1999. Teammate Maurizio Rocha hugs him from behind left. (AP Photo/Chris Matula)

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. - Former Major League Soccer player Diego Serna, who starred for the now-defunct Miami Fusion, is facing federal drug trafficking charges after authorities said he tried to bring nearly 9,000 hydrocodone pills into the U.S. after arriving at Miami International Airport on a flight from Colombia, Local 10 News has learned.

Authorities said Serna, 52, arrived on an American Airlines flight from his hometown of Medellin, Colombia on Wednesday with  two black backpacks and no checked luggage. 

But, according to a federal criminal complaint, before he arrived in the U.S., Colombian authorities issued a  lookout alert  that Serna, whose full name is Diego Alonso Serna Lopera, was suspected of travelling with drugs.

According to the complaint, customs officers referred Serna to secondary inspection and he took responsibility for what was in the bags:  seven assorted vitamin bottles containing approximately 8,975 pills. 

The pills were identified as being suspected hydrocodone/acetaminophen, once sold under the brand name Vicodin, the complaint states. Authorities said they tested positive for opiates.

According to federal agents, during an interview, Serna  immediately stated that he wanted to cooperate. 

The complaint states that Serna acknowledged that customs officers  had inspected the pill bottles before departure and that he had overheard them say that the bottles contained  hydrocodone'  and  explained that the pills were delivered to his apartment in Colombia by a friend named  Sebastian,' whose last name he claimed not to know,  but who  paid for his flight as a  thank you' for helping (him) transport the pills. 

 (Serna) was told that, once he landed in Miami, he would receive a call from Sebastian regarding the delivery of the pills,  the complaint states.

Authorities said Serna coop

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