HIALEAH, Fla. — A former minor league pitcher in the Boston Red Sox organization is facing serious felony charges after sheriff’s deputies accused him of trafficking “large quantities of cocaine throughout Miami-Dade County.”
Arrest documents obtained by Local 10 News on Wednesday state that Yusniel Padron Artiles, 28, was arrested at his home on West 53rd Terrace in Hialeah last Thursday.
Padron Artiles, a Havana-born Cuban national, was drafted in the 22nd round by the Red Sox in 2018 out of Miami Dade College and reached the Double-A level before his release in 2024. He pitched for an independent league team in Quebec City that year and hasn’t played professionally since.
According to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, an informant tipped deputies off to Padron Artiles in January. That informant conducted four controlled drug buys from the former athlete, it states.
Authorities executed a search warrant at Padron Artiles’ home and took him into custody early Thursday morning.
Deputies said they found nearly 50 baggies of powder cocaine in his bedroom, along with two guns and about $1,200 cash between his bedroom and living room.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Padron Artiles was being held without bond in the Metrowest Detention Center, facing charges of armed drug trafficking and ownership, lease, rental, or possession for trafficking in or manufacturing a controlled substance.
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