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NewsWhore
03-08-2010, 01:20 PM
A white Land Rover, seized from fugitive Sobeida Felix Morel, as well as a flotilla of vehicles belonging to her suspected lover Jose Figueroa Agosto, which include a Jaguar, make up part of the more than 3,000 pieces of evidence under the custody of the District Attorney for the National District.
A Porsche and a Ferrari, valued at RD$13 million, are among the luxurious brands seized in the case of drug baron Figueroa Agosto. As reported they are under wraps, except for an armored SUV that is at the National Department of Drug Control (DNCD). Another 200 vehicles that are stored in a lot in Manoguayabo can be added to this list.
28 watches that were confiscated from Figueroa Agosto are in a vault at the Banco de Reservas. The last one to go in was a gold Rolex, valued at US$200,000 that was recently confiscated in a raid on a drug trafficker.
Other items on the list of Figueroa Agosto-related assets include 1,700 firearms of different calibers among which are five that belong to a kidnapping that began in San Francisco de Macoris, but where the accused are being tried in the capital.
In storage are also 500 knives and machetes that were used to commit crimes, along with 80 television sets and even pieces of bottles. The system also stores television sets, motorcycles, computers, stoves, refrigerators, radios, irons, pieces of wood and other objects.
An armored vault, with double protected walls, armor, and airtight doors are the protection for the new depository for arms and shell casings picked up as proof and evidence in the cases.
The Evidence Control Office has replaced the old way of storing the evidence in a depository at the Palace of Justice in Ciudad Nueva, where they piled up with no organization. Now the prosecutor office is zealously guarding numerous assets in a 4-story building seized from former Army Captain Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo, on the Emilio Prud'Homme Street. It is a restricted area, now used only for items that are being used as proof in criminal cases. The area has security cameras and alarms.
District Attorney Alejandro Moscoso Segarra reports that a modern computerized system that allows the immediate location of any requested piece of evidence. He emphasizes that no matter how insignificant the object might appear, these are key pieces in the investigative process and when presenting a case before the courts.
He commented that, as a result of the new organization, they have established mechanisms to quickly locate any object that is needed. He underlined the fact that all of the items that are found at a crime scene are taken to this department as soon as the case is filed.
"In the history of the District Attorney's office, this is the term of office when the most money has been confiscated", said Moscoso Segarra. He cited the US$4.6 million seized from Agosto and Sobeida, later another US$200,000 that were tied to the case, and the RD$50 million from the Solano Money Exchange case.
He commented that everyday there are monies seized in different amounts that are deposited in a special account.

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