Quirino Paulino Castillo's good deal sour to Dominicans
He spent eight years in jail, but recent news reports speculate that the deal he struck with the US judiciary gives Dominican drug trafficker Quirino Paulino Castillo the option of returning to the Dominican Republic or staying in the US to enjoy the considerable wealth accumulated during his years of involvement in drug trafficking. Quirino Paulino is thought to have been the biggest Dominican drug trafficker until his arrest in 2004, as reported in El Dia. His case was heard at the US Attorney Southern District of New York after his extradition to the US, the result of a joint investigation between the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the DR National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) sponsored by the United States Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).
Paulino Castillo was arrested by the DNCD in the DR on 18 December 2004 along with the seizure of 1,387 kilograms of cocaine.
On Friday, 24 January, it was reported that he would be released. Confiscated property worth millions and linked to drug trafficking operations may now need to be restored to Paulino Castillo. El Dia reports that his fortune was estimated at RD$1.1 billion at the time of his arrest in 2004. It reports that the deal he struck with the US authorities only demands the return of US$14.5 million, or approximately RD$500 million. Quirino may be allowed to keep RD$600 million that have now been laundered by the judicial decision, which effectively legitimized the money, speculates the newspaper. The agreement also allows for Quirino and the family (18 members in total) to reside in the US.
Bolivar Sanchez, general inspector for the Dominican prosecutor's office, complained: "We never find out the details of any deal that the US authorities have struck with the drug traffickers". He added that if it is true that they are ordering the return of assets confiscated from Quirino, then the wrong message is being sent. He said that local prosecutors risk their lives and that of their families and are not taken into account when deals of this kind are made, as reported in Diario Libre.
Servio Tulio Castanos Guzman, executive vice president of the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (FINJUS) also says the message being delivered is not the right one, as reported in Diario Libre. He expressed doubt that the custodian of the assets, Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito would return them.
Castanos believes that the Dominican government needs to review the way in which it negotiates with the individuals to be extradited and the consequences of deals being reached abroad. "It would appear that it is not in our interest to extradite organized crime members," he told Diario Libre.
Ethics Commission chairman Marino Vinicio Castillo says that this has been happening for years when deals are struck by the criminals. "The problem is that when they get out (the drug traffickers) they have the resources to continue operating, causing fear and violence, and that has to be changed," he commented.
Meanwhile, the president of Hogar Crea Dominicano, a drug addiction rehabilitation center, said that on occasions they have had to return assets that had been seized from the traffickers, despite the fact they had been obtained illicitly.
As reported, Paulino delivered crucial information to the US authorities on the operation of Mexico's Norte del Valle cartel.
"EE.UU. no toma en cuenta a Rep?blica Dominicana en negociaciones con capos" - DiarioLibre.com
Quirino Ernesto Paulino obtiene orden de libertad por pena cumplida en EE.UU. - DiarioLibre.com
www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/February05/paulinocastilloextraditionpr.pdf
Capos negocian con EEUU y se burlan de autoridades y sociedad en RD - Acento
Quirino Paulino siempre ha deseado regresar al pa?s, seg?n su abogado - Peri?dico Digital Dominicano - 7d?as.com.do
El Caribe ? Quirino obtiene su libertad pero se queda en los EE.UU.
