from today's DR1 news
No names, please
Prosecutors yesterday hushed a witness who would have revealed names of military personnel involved in the case for asset laundering and criminal association with drug trafficking being heard against Sobeida Felix Morel, Mary Pelaez, Adolfina Pelaez, Eddy Brito, Sammy Daujhajre, Ivanovich Smester, Juan Jose Fernandez Ibarra and Madeline Bernard. The group members are accused of acting as fronts for Puerto Rican drug capo Jose David Figueroa Agosto.
Mary Pelaez, Sammy Dauhajre and Ivanovich Smester's defense lawyer, Rafael Ariza was questioning the head of the Unit of Financial Crimes of the National Drug Control Department, Colonel Julio Cesar Suffront Velasquez in court yesterday. In his statement he said that some military and police personnel had ties to the Figueroa Agosto. When the defense lawyer asked for the names, an assistant prosecutor warned the witness and the judges that the names could not be made public.
As reported in Hoy, assistant prosecutor Ibo Rene Sanchez argued that the information would be "privileged information" and could not be made public. He prevented Suffront Velasquez from revealing the names of police and military figures with ties to the drug trafficking network. Suffront has been in charge of investigating the Figueroa Agosto case since 3 September 2009 when Figueroa Agosto fled the country after being followed using evidence collected in an investigation he directed.
In his testimony, Suffront questioned the conclusiveness of the investigation carried out by the prosecutors. He said that the authorities did not interrogate the people who provided Jose David Figueroa Agosto with the ID that identified him as a member of the National Investigations Department (DNI), the local FBI unit. He said the investigators did not interrogate the people who issued Figueroa Agosto with forged IDs. Figueroa Agosto used forged identities in the DR.
Meanwhile, in El Caribe, journalist Miguel Guerrero says that journalist Llenis Jimenez, writing in Hoy, has perceptively observed the case seems to be centered on advancing the charges for asset laundering against the accused (with whom it is said the prosecutors have negotiated a deal), and not leaving room open for other revelations that could lead to incriminating the individuals who made it possible for the Caribbean drug capo Jose David Figueroa Agosto to operate freely in the DR for almost 10 years.
In her statements, Sobeida Felix Morel mentioned in court that the person who gave Figueroa Agosto his National Department of Investigations ID card knew his real identity. Figueroa Agosto lived in the DR under the forged identity of Christian Almonte.
Guerrero comments: "That detail should be a key element in the process because without that official ID Figueroa Agosto would probably not have been able to move as freely as he did in the most select altars of vernacular political echelons," he comments.
Guerrero criticizes what he describes as the interest of investigators and prosecutors in the expenses spent on decorating houses to the expensive taste of Figueroa Agosto, who is standing trial in Puerto Rico after his spectacular escape from the DR, at the expense of more relevant details, gives an idea of how things are going in this long detailed process. He comments that an analysis of this case helps put into perspective this "very sad case of unprecedented criminality and corruption and place into the open the shadows around it and the magnitude of drug trafficking in the country."
Tania Molina, covering the story in Diario Libre, also observes today about the inconsistencies in the preparation of the case by prosecutors. Rafael Ariza, the lawyer for two of the accused, pointed out yesterday that more than 20 people known to have dealt directly or indirectly with Figueroa Agosto, including military and government officials, have not been included in the case.
As was highlighted yesterday in court, others that have been left out of the case are Miguel Martinez of Auto Luxury, who sold several vehicles to Figueroa Agosto. The people who sold Figueroa Agosto a farm in Km. 25 of the Duarte Highway were not interrogated, nor were the legal advisors who sold a pre-made company to Figueroa Agosto that he used to purchase a property, as reported in Diario Libre.
No names, please
Prosecutors yesterday hushed a witness who would have revealed names of military personnel involved in the case for asset laundering and criminal association with drug trafficking being heard against Sobeida Felix Morel, Mary Pelaez, Adolfina Pelaez, Eddy Brito, Sammy Daujhajre, Ivanovich Smester, Juan Jose Fernandez Ibarra and Madeline Bernard. The group members are accused of acting as fronts for Puerto Rican drug capo Jose David Figueroa Agosto.
Mary Pelaez, Sammy Dauhajre and Ivanovich Smester's defense lawyer, Rafael Ariza was questioning the head of the Unit of Financial Crimes of the National Drug Control Department, Colonel Julio Cesar Suffront Velasquez in court yesterday. In his statement he said that some military and police personnel had ties to the Figueroa Agosto. When the defense lawyer asked for the names, an assistant prosecutor warned the witness and the judges that the names could not be made public.
As reported in Hoy, assistant prosecutor Ibo Rene Sanchez argued that the information would be "privileged information" and could not be made public. He prevented Suffront Velasquez from revealing the names of police and military figures with ties to the drug trafficking network. Suffront has been in charge of investigating the Figueroa Agosto case since 3 September 2009 when Figueroa Agosto fled the country after being followed using evidence collected in an investigation he directed.
In his testimony, Suffront questioned the conclusiveness of the investigation carried out by the prosecutors. He said that the authorities did not interrogate the people who provided Jose David Figueroa Agosto with the ID that identified him as a member of the National Investigations Department (DNI), the local FBI unit. He said the investigators did not interrogate the people who issued Figueroa Agosto with forged IDs. Figueroa Agosto used forged identities in the DR.
Meanwhile, in El Caribe, journalist Miguel Guerrero says that journalist Llenis Jimenez, writing in Hoy, has perceptively observed the case seems to be centered on advancing the charges for asset laundering against the accused (with whom it is said the prosecutors have negotiated a deal), and not leaving room open for other revelations that could lead to incriminating the individuals who made it possible for the Caribbean drug capo Jose David Figueroa Agosto to operate freely in the DR for almost 10 years.
In her statements, Sobeida Felix Morel mentioned in court that the person who gave Figueroa Agosto his National Department of Investigations ID card knew his real identity. Figueroa Agosto lived in the DR under the forged identity of Christian Almonte.
Guerrero comments: "That detail should be a key element in the process because without that official ID Figueroa Agosto would probably not have been able to move as freely as he did in the most select altars of vernacular political echelons," he comments.
Guerrero criticizes what he describes as the interest of investigators and prosecutors in the expenses spent on decorating houses to the expensive taste of Figueroa Agosto, who is standing trial in Puerto Rico after his spectacular escape from the DR, at the expense of more relevant details, gives an idea of how things are going in this long detailed process. He comments that an analysis of this case helps put into perspective this "very sad case of unprecedented criminality and corruption and place into the open the shadows around it and the magnitude of drug trafficking in the country."
Tania Molina, covering the story in Diario Libre, also observes today about the inconsistencies in the preparation of the case by prosecutors. Rafael Ariza, the lawyer for two of the accused, pointed out yesterday that more than 20 people known to have dealt directly or indirectly with Figueroa Agosto, including military and government officials, have not been included in the case.
As was highlighted yesterday in court, others that have been left out of the case are Miguel Martinez of Auto Luxury, who sold several vehicles to Figueroa Agosto. The people who sold Figueroa Agosto a farm in Km. 25 of the Duarte Highway were not interrogated, nor were the legal advisors who sold a pre-made company to Figueroa Agosto that he used to purchase a property, as reported in Diario Libre.