NewsWhore
06-03-2008, 05:20 PM
During the first five months of the year the Customs department (DGA) has seized almost US$4 million in undeclared or illegal cash and has seized more than US$8 million in the last 17 months, according to a DGA report published in the local media. The busts have been made with cooperation of national and international entities.
One of the most high profile cash seizures was the money brought to the DR in a plane piloted by Rafael Alberto Luciano Corominas, son of Supreme Court vice president Rafael Luciano on 30 April. The total sum seized in that case was US$569,000. Luciano Corominas, Jose Martin Gomez Guichardo and Manuel Ovalles Tejada were arrested for smuggling the US$569,000, but only Ovalles Tejeda was prosecuted because he admitted sole responsibility for the money. He was released on 21 May after posting bond. DGA director Miguel Cocco believes that this money is narcotics-related.
The highest seizure came this week, with US$969,166 left behind on a private plane that landed at the airport in La Romana. Cisnero Antonio Paredes, who brought the money to the DR, was able to evade capture. The airplane was piloted by Sergio Oriolis, an American. The Air Force Major Honorio Acevedo Canela, was also arrested for complicity.
Other noteworthy cases include Puerto Ricans Luis Angel Correa and Ray Antonio Coto Carrasquillo who were found to have US$250,000 in cash in their possession, and US$520,000 from two Venezuelan nationals. Correa and Coto Carrasquillo tried to bring in US$250,000 on a yacht in the Punta Cana area. They were arrested in Cabeza de Toro. The authorities believe the money would have gone to pay for a drug transaction.
On 13 May, the DGA confiscated US$520,000 that Venezuelans Jimmy Jose Naranjo Angarita and Johnny Alexander Tesorero Hernandez were trying to smuggle out of the country. They were boarding a plane to Venezuela at Las Americas International Airport (Santo Domingo). The total sum confiscated in the first five months of this year is equal to the money confiscated by smugglers in all of 2007. In 2007, the largest money smuggling operation intercepted was the case of Diana Marte Perez, a US citizen, who was carrying US$738,585 in cash. She is currently in jail at Najayo. The DGA has stepped up its search for money, and this explains why agents are now checking passengers' bags upon arrival at Dominican air and seaports.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)
One of the most high profile cash seizures was the money brought to the DR in a plane piloted by Rafael Alberto Luciano Corominas, son of Supreme Court vice president Rafael Luciano on 30 April. The total sum seized in that case was US$569,000. Luciano Corominas, Jose Martin Gomez Guichardo and Manuel Ovalles Tejada were arrested for smuggling the US$569,000, but only Ovalles Tejeda was prosecuted because he admitted sole responsibility for the money. He was released on 21 May after posting bond. DGA director Miguel Cocco believes that this money is narcotics-related.
The highest seizure came this week, with US$969,166 left behind on a private plane that landed at the airport in La Romana. Cisnero Antonio Paredes, who brought the money to the DR, was able to evade capture. The airplane was piloted by Sergio Oriolis, an American. The Air Force Major Honorio Acevedo Canela, was also arrested for complicity.
Other noteworthy cases include Puerto Ricans Luis Angel Correa and Ray Antonio Coto Carrasquillo who were found to have US$250,000 in cash in their possession, and US$520,000 from two Venezuelan nationals. Correa and Coto Carrasquillo tried to bring in US$250,000 on a yacht in the Punta Cana area. They were arrested in Cabeza de Toro. The authorities believe the money would have gone to pay for a drug transaction.
On 13 May, the DGA confiscated US$520,000 that Venezuelans Jimmy Jose Naranjo Angarita and Johnny Alexander Tesorero Hernandez were trying to smuggle out of the country. They were boarding a plane to Venezuela at Las Americas International Airport (Santo Domingo). The total sum confiscated in the first five months of this year is equal to the money confiscated by smugglers in all of 2007. In 2007, the largest money smuggling operation intercepted was the case of Diana Marte Perez, a US citizen, who was carrying US$738,585 in cash. She is currently in jail at Najayo. The DGA has stepped up its search for money, and this explains why agents are now checking passengers' bags upon arrival at Dominican air and seaports.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)