Major international drugs bust

Following the crash of a small plane in Constanza on Saturday 27 September, the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) has announced that they have dismantled an international drugs ring, made up of people from Venezuela, Colombia, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and the United States as well as Dominicans.

In addition, DNCD chief Rolando Rosado Mateo has accused the president of Caribair aviation company, Rafael Rosado Fermin, of belonging to the network along with businessmen Sergio Rene Gomez Diaz and Jose Vicente Figueroa Ortiz. All three are now under arrest. The announcement was made during a press conference called by the DNCD yesterday, Monday 1 October. John Niedzialek, head of the US Drug Enforcement Administration office at the US Embassy in Santo Domingo was present at the event.

A total of 15 people have been detained, including Venezuelan Jose Luis Veras Marquez, Alberto Laureano, AKA "el piloto" from the US, Holmes Errol Outram from the Bahamas, Harry Williams Nazario from Puerto Rico, Raymond Mario Perez, alias Max, from the US, Dominicans Danny Salvador Ramirez Cabral, alias Marcial and Cristian Chavez. Victor Hugo Sanchez Portes and Eduardo Leyba Perez were killed in the crash. Rosado Mateo said that captain Anthony Eduardo Leyba Perez was an undercover agent who had died when the groups discovered that their structures had been penetrated.

The DNCD chief said that several members of the armed forces had also been arrested: Army Lieutenant Colonel Juan Ramon Rosado Perez, alias Rosario, Air Force First Lieutenant Henri Francisco Valdez Garcia, alias Jefecito, Army Sergeant Major Jose Antonio Cleto Cruz and a former police private, Carlos Manuel Ramirez.

General Rosado said that the group had been followed for more than a year.

The arrests were made after the crash of the small plane in Constanza. Rosado Mateo said that the plane US registration N711WX that crashed in Constanza had been acquired by the ring in the United States and brought to the DR to be refitted for use to transport drugs from South America to the DR, Haiti and Honduras.

He said the group used the DR as center of operations for refitting the small planes for wider flight range. He said that the drug ring used military personnel at the Constanza, Puerto Plata and Santiago airports for their operations.

Rosado Mateo added that no drugs were found in the Constanza plane, but that another US registration N4592 belonging to Sergio Rene Gomez Diaz, which had taken off from La Isabela Airport (in northern Santo Domingo) for Curacao and Venezuela had been captured with drugs on board.

He announced that several properties had been used to launder the assets, including Pasion Night Club, Plaza Hermanos Gomez Diaz and residences in Santiago were confiscated. In Santo Domingo, the DNCD confiscated the Carmax dealer-finance house, Plaza Carmax, and Carmax Car Wash. Five airplanes were seized in the same operation.

Rosado Mateo says that the Dominican government would prefer the group to be tried in the United States so that they can receive exemplary judgments. As reported in El Dia, he said that in the DR the law does not give specialized treatment for organized crime. He advocated for legislation to fight organized crime that considers the charge of conspiracy. He said this would ensure that individuals, such as those involved in this case, who do not touch a gram of cocaine, but manage the business from a distance, could be tried.

Rosado Mateo also announced changes to the agents assigned to different DNCD divisions, airports, accounting, human resources, General Inspector office and other units.

Caribair issued a statement disputing the allegations that its president, Rafael Rosado Fermin was a member of an international drug ring and denied any links to the 27 September plane crash in Constanza made by General Rolando Rosado Mateo.

Caribair has been linked to several other drug-related cases in the past, as reported in Hoy.

www.dncd.mil.do/index.php/component/content/article/3-newsflash/1708-detenido-piloto-contratado-por-deportado-de-eu-para-llevar-avion-a-curazao.html
www.dncd.mil.do/index.php/component/content/article/3-newsflash/1709-dncd-y-procuraduria-anuncia-desmantelamiento-de-enrome-red-de-narcotrafico.html?ea97e10c5f91b275ce8431a1bdaaf84c=45be6c5410138575e875e3b174f7d20b
http://eldia.com.do/nacionales/2012/...es-y-militares
www.elcaribe.com.do/2012/10/02/rosado-caribair-largo-historial-conflictos-con-ley

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