WORLD CUP USA ‘94: ROUND OF 16 : 3 Who Argued With Escobar Face Weapons, Drug Charges

Three people involved in a confrontation with soccer star Andres Escobar shortly before he was killed face drug and weapons charges, police said Tuesday.

Escobar was shot to death apparently because he scored an own goal in Colombia’s World Cup loss to the United States.

Initially, the two men and a woman were suspects in the shooting, but they were cleared after questioning, police said.

They remained in custody because police said they found 55 pounds of cocaine, two revolvers and a submachine gun in the two Medellin homes where they were arrested Monday.

Escobar was shot early Saturday in the parking lot of a restaurant in Medellin. Police arrested two suspects over the weekend, one of whom confessed to shooting Escobar.

The three suspects arrested in Medellin on Monday were at the scene of Escobar’s death with Humberto Munoz, who confessed to shooting the soccer star, police said. They were identified as brothers Humberto and Hernan Dario Velez Correa and their cousin, Luz Mila Correa.

Munoz worked as a driver for another suspect, rancher Santiago Gallon Henao, who allegedly bet heavily on the Colombian team and was upset at having lost.

Police said they were investigating whether drug traffickers planned Escobar’s death. Earlier, they said the murder was not premeditated and was not linked to drug cartels or death threats against other members of the Colombian soccer team.