NewsWhore
03-06-2012, 04:20 PM
The Collegiate Court of the Penal Chamber in San Pedro de Macoris has dismissed charges against four Venezuelans who had been accused of bringing 58 packages of cocaine, weighing 59 kilograms, into the country in a small aircraft registered in Venezuela on 15 December 2009. The court ordered their immediate release and the return of the aircraft and US$14,681 and 10,197 bolivares that were seized during the initial arrests.
While the court said that the four defendants were not guilty because the prosecutors had not presented sufficient evidence, the Forensic Institute said that the substance seized was cocaine. The prosecutors had asked for 30-year sentences and the seizure of all assets. It is not known whether the Attorney General will appeal the sentence.
National Drug Control Department (DNCD) chief Major General Rolando Rosado Mateo has frequently spoken out to say that the weak link in the fight against drugs is the judiciary.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#11)
While the court said that the four defendants were not guilty because the prosecutors had not presented sufficient evidence, the Forensic Institute said that the substance seized was cocaine. The prosecutors had asked for 30-year sentences and the seizure of all assets. It is not known whether the Attorney General will appeal the sentence.
National Drug Control Department (DNCD) chief Major General Rolando Rosado Mateo has frequently spoken out to say that the weak link in the fight against drugs is the judiciary.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#11)