Former Premier League footballer reveals he planned to 'buy a gun' after receiving messages from 'cartel'

A former Premier League footballer has revealed how he planned to buy a gun after being contacted by a Mexican ‘cartel’.

Colin Kazim-Richards, 38, began his career at Bury before spells at Brighton and Sheffield United – where he played during the Blades’ 2006-07 relegation season.

Since then, the Londoner has played for 15 other clubs, taking his total number of clubs to 18.

His unusual career trajectory has allowed him to play in various leagues across the world, including playing in Greece, Brazil, Turkey and the Netherlands, just to name a few.

However, when he signed for Mexican side Pachuca after impressing at Veracruz, he experienced something that was no doubt terrifying at the time.

“I’m in Mexico I’m getting messages on my phone from [the] cartel,” he told Broadtalks podcast.

“What happened was I’ve moved from Veracruz to Pachuca. We didn’t get paid for that whole season in Veracruz.

“I’ve gone now, I’ve left because I mash up [played well] that season there. I did really well, and I scored against Pachuca.

“I had a really good game against them [Pachuca]. They come in and bought me.”

At this point, the player will have been looking forward to the challenges on the pitch but possibly did not expect what was to come off it.

“Get my phone,” he added.

“[A message said] ‘Yeah, carbron [male goat in English]’.

“I’m like, ‘Who’s this?’”

“We need some money [it read],” he explained.

Colin Kazim-Richards has played for several clubs (Credit:Getty)

“It was from…something cartel.”

“So, he’s messaging every day,” added Kazim-Richards.

“Now I’m showing my wife, but now it’s different – she’s stressing a little bit.”

“So man is like, ‘We need a thousand dollars sent to [the cartel],'" he added.

“So now I’m like, ‘Rah, do I need to protect myself?'

“I’ve gone in and said to the coach, ‘Look, just to let you know I’m gonna buy a gun.'

“[But] the guy [coach] is like, ‘No, no, no, no – why what’s up?’”

After explaining how the coach was concerned, the Turkish international then showed him the messages before he asked for “half an hour”.

Following some Google searching by a few friends, Kazim-Richards explained how he found out that the person who was sending the messages was in prison.

However, in an unexpected twist, it was then explained to the 38-year-old that the person in question used to be in the cartel but had been kicked out because “he did something”.

“You know what one guy said to me?" he asked.

"He was like, ‘Bro, if you think this was cartel, they are asking for $1,000. You think they’re worried about a thousand dollars?’”

The striker left Pachuca in 2020 when he signed for Derby County. After playing for the Rams on 63 occasions, he joined the Turkish second-tier side Fatih Karagümrük.

He left in 2023, and he has been without a club since.