Puerto Plata city cargo and passenger port gets its start
President Medina calls for start of actions to choose new Supreme Court of Justice judges
Haitians arrested in Valle Nuevo
Barrick Gold lays off personnel
Recycling plant explosion victims critical
National Police changes its men while violent crime is on the rise
Investigations continue of Bani drug sales point
Bodies burned in La Romana
Dominican contacts of Mexico’s El Chapo
US Coast Guard detains illegal boat trip
Toros del Este vs. Estrellas Orientales
Puerto Plata city cargo and passenger port gets its start
President Danilo Medina was in Puerto Plata on Tuesday, 15 January 2019, for the symbolic start of the remodeling of the Puerto Plata cargo dock and the construction of a cruise ship terminal and docks. The project will also include the construction of a special dock for fishing boats, the dredging of the port area and a series of associated port works.
The remolded Puerto Plata port is being promoted as a “multipurpose national port” and will have capacity to receive three cruise ships simultaneously as well as high capacity cargo ships. The project calls for an investment of around US$125 million. Víctor Gómez Casanova, executive director of the National Port Authority, said that he already has commitment letters from five of the leading cruiselines in the Caribbean that will ensure that in the first year of operations around 650,000 cruise passengers will arrive on multiple ships.
Gómez Casanova explained the contract was won by the same Mexican company that operates the ports of Costamaya, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and in Honduras. The Mexican company, Promociones Turísticas Mahahual won the tender carried out by the government for the port and is working together with the local partner, Consorcio Puerto Plata Port Investments in the construction of the port.
The new cruise ship facility will be marketed as Taino Bay. This would be the second cruise ship facility in Puerto Plata. A first, Amber Cove is successfully operated by Carnival Cruise, is located 20 minutes south of the city in Maimón.
https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias...-puerto-plata-inversion-de-us125-millones-que
https://listindiario.com/economia/2019/01/15/549440/inician-reconstruccion-muelle-cruceros
http://hoy.com.do/presidente-medina...ara-reconstruccion-de-puerto-de-puerto-plata/
President Medina calls for start of actions to choose new Supreme Court of Justice judges
President Danilo Medina convened the next session of the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM) for Wednesday, 16 January 2019, in the afternoon. On the agenda for the first meeting is the approval of the assessment rules for the selection of the judges to replace retiring Supreme Court of Justice judges.
Present at the meeting with the President were Mariano Germán Mejia, president of the Supreme Court of Justice; Reinaldo Pared Pérez, president of the Senate; Jean Alain Rodríguez, attorney general of the Republic; Radhames Camacho, president of the Chamber of Deputies; José Ignacio Paliza, senator; Josefa Castillo, deputy; Fran Soto, Supreme Court of Justice judge and secretary of the CNM and Flavio Darío Espinal, legal advisor to the Executive Branch and technical advisor to the CNM.
http://eldia.com.do/presidente-convoca-para-manana-consejo-nacional-de-la-magistratura/
Haitians arrested in Valle Nuevo
Inspectors from the Migration Agency (DGM) accompanied by members of the military have arrested hundreds of Haitians who had invaded land in the communities around the Parque Nacional Juan Bautista Perez Rancier (Valle Nuevo) in Constanza municipality, La Vega province. The operation began around 5am on Tuesday, 15 January 2019, in the communities of Las Auyamas, El Edén, Las Flores and Ojo de Agua Constanza, La Vega and by 8am, the authorities had arrested 287 illegal Haitians.
As reported, the authorities said that many of those arrested had not been in the area long and were growing crops. It was the massive presence of Haitians in the last few days in the area that had alerted the local growers and led to the presence of Migration. The inspectors said that all of those arrested were in the country illegally and they were taken to the border and returned to Haiti.
At the same time, the Ministry of Environment announced actions to install physical signage setting off limits to where farming activities are permitted. Environmentalists and investigative journalists have produced evidence of the lenience of the Ministry of Environment with farming activities in the area where important sources of water are located.
http://hoy.com.do/migracion-detiene-cientos-de-haitianos-en-zonas-aledanas-a-valle-nuevo/
http://eldia.com.do/medio-ambiente-senalizara-limites-de-valle-nuevo/
Barrick Gold lays off personnel
Mining company Barrick Pueblo Viejo has announced that due to a decrease in the price of gold and an increase in their operating costs, the company has decided to dismiss 222 workers from the Cotui mine, located in Sanchez Ramirez province. The mine company spokesman said that since October 2018, employees have been given the option of voluntary early retirement and some 85 workers have taken advantage of the opportunity. All of those let go at this time have received the normal severance pay as stipulated by law as well as provided with assistance to obtain alternative work.
https://listindiario.com/economia/2019/01/15/549508/barrick-pueblo-viejo-despide-a-222-trabajadores
Recycling plant explosion victims critical
Dr. Eddy Bruno, director of the Burns’ Unit at the Ney Arias Lora Hospital, says that the three patients who were burned by the boiler explosion at the Cerantra recycling plant in western Santo Domingo remain in serious condition, with burns covering between 100 and 98% of their bodies. The burns are so severe that the three patients are currently on ventilators. Dr. Bruno said that another patient in the hospital, who suffered burns over 30% of his body from the explosion is better condition, is expected to make a full recovery.
Those burn patients in hospital are Franklin Martínez Romero, aged 24, Freddy Antonio Peña, 51, Rodolfo Fuente, 48, and Agustín Lunque, 36 years. The victims of the explosion are 32 year old Juan Manuel García, and Francisco Suero, aged 48.
The president of the Bayona neighbourhood board had on several occasions warned authorities of the dangers in the operation of the recycling plant. He said over the past four years he had delivered several complaints to the Ministry of Environment but had not been able to convince ministry to act.
http://hoy.com.do/hay-tres-personas-en-estado-critico-tras-explosion-santo-domingo-oeste/
https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2019/01/15/549461/en-lugar-de-explosion-reciclan-combustibles
http://hoy.com.do/video-o-te-callas...e-por-denuncias-a-empresa-que-exploto-en-sdo/
http://eldia.com.do/vecinos-habian-pedido-cierre-de-la-empresa-cerantra-por-anos/
National Police changes its men while violent crime is on the rise
Given the wave of violence in the first 15 days of 2019, the National Police has announced a number of changes of senior officers in the National District and the provinces of Santo Domingo, Santiago, Dajabón, Azua, María Trinidad Sánchez and Samaná.
The new head as director of the Anti-gang department of the National Police is Colonel Salustiano Tineo Matos, who is replacing Brigadier General Mario Objio Morales. Brigadier General Máximo Báez Aybar takes over as regional director of the National District, replacing Colonel Juan Francisco Solano Jáquez, and his post as Regional Director of Santo Domingo North is filled by Brigadier General Mario Objio Morales.
Colonel Juan Francisco Solano Jaquez has been assigned to Dajabon and Colonel Ronald Feliz Batista will assume his dutiess in Azua. In Nagua the head is Colonel Colonel Hanlen Garden Guzman and in Santiago, Colonel Juan Columna Montalvo. Other changes were made in Las Terrenas Villa Mella and Santo Domingo, as reported in Diario Libre.
The changes are occurring at a time when suspected drug trafficking related killings are on the rise. A Diario Libre editorial forecasts that the combination of breakdown in the public order, impunity for criminals, rising drug consumption and cultural and economic difficulties is giving rise to increases in drug trafficking and contracted killings.
http://www.policianacional.gob.do/n...ando-en-la-capital-y-en-el-interior-del-pais/
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...antipandillas-y-realiza-cambios-en-regionales
https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...-13-muertes-en-las-ultimas-semanas-GM11845355
https://www.diariolibre.com/opinion/am/narcotrafico-y-sicariato-sera-peor-BM11848933
Investigations continue of Bani drug sales point
According to Carlos Devers, DNCD spokesman, not only has the drug sales point where Bani Colonel Daniel Ramos Alvarez was killed been raided several times, but the man called Buche, (Rafael Antonio Diaz), has also been arrested several times.
The commission made up of the Police and the Public Prosecution Agency, investigating the death of Colonel Romas Alvarez, met on Monday, 14 January 2019, with the Bani Prosecutors to evaluate the conclusions of the investigation.
The commission is made up of the head of the Central Criminal Investigations Office (Dicrim), General Pablo Arturo Pujols; Police inspector, General Rafael Cabrera Sarita, and Héctor García Cuevas, director of Internal Affairs; prosecutor for the Appeal Court in San Cristobal, Jonathan Baró Gutiérrez, and head prosecutor for Peravia, Ángel Darío Tejeda Fabal. They say they will make their conclusions known to the public by the end of the week. Senator Wilton Guerrero has discredited the investigation, saying that two of the investigators are on the payroll of “Buche.”
Meanwhile, the court in Peravia was expected to announce coercive measures against the three men arrested for the murder of the Colonel which happened on 8 January 201. The Public prosecution service are asking for 18 months on remand for Rafael Antonio Díaz (Buche); Luis Miguel Santana (Walter Antonio Moreta), and Steven Ruiz. They also requested that the case be declared complex, to allow more time to conduct the investigation.
However, the hearing was postponed until 18 January 2019, as the lawyers for the accused said they did not have time to examine the case file. They requested Judge, Rosaura Garabito delay the hearing in order to allow them to prepare a stronger defense.
Also under investigation for the crime are a Lieutenant Colonel and a Captain who were with the Colonel at the time of his death, as well as ten members of Buches’s gang who are on the run.
Meanwhile, Jesus Peña, who identified himself as a brother to Rafael Antonio Diaz (Buche), arrested in the murder of Police colonel Daniel Ramos Alvarez in Baní, says his brother was not at the site at the time of the murder and blames the drug trafficking competition of trying to eliminate that sales point in order to keep the business for themselves. He said drug sales in that area is the norm.
"Here there is competition regarding the points. My brother's point is the best here in Baní. At the time, the others planned to kill the colonel at the point to involve my brother and eliminate the point," explained Buche's brother. Buche is described by his relatives as the owner of the leading drug sales point in Baní.
Peña argued that police officers Marcelino Arias and Leonardo Brazobán, who were accompanying the officer when he was killed, should be investigated, because according to him, they took Ramos there so he be executed.
http://eldia.com.do/dncd-se-defiende-dice-intervino-punto-de-drogas-de-buche-en-20-ocasiones/
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...onel-ramos-mientras-vecinos-defienden-a-buche
http://hoy.com.do/video-hermano-de-...puntos-hicieron-un-complot-para-involucrarlo/
http://hoy.com.do/buche-habia-sido-...de-droga-donde-mataron-coronel-ramos-en-bani/
https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...o-de-droga-en-bani-segun-parientes-MM11848884
Bodies burned in La Romana
On Monday night, 14 January 2019, three bodies were discovered, two burned inside an SUV, in Higueral-Cacata, La Romana province. According to a police report, a third body with a bullet wound was discovered near the vehicle. The victims were identified as Juan Gil Adames, Ángel Carrión and Gregorio Pérez Santana, all residents of La Romana. The motive for the crime is not yet known. At the scene, the police found at least eight bullet casings and believe the victims had been shot and killed before being burned in the vehicle.
The police say they were alerted to the crime at around 5:40pm, and the bodies were taken to the morgue at the La Romana public hospital. According to medical examiner, Benito Kelly, when the bodies were discovered, they had been dead for around 15 hours.
The case is investigated by prosecutor Héctor Julio Matos and the Departament of Criminal Investigations (Dicrim) of the eastern command of the National Police.
Diario Libre says the authorities are linking the deaths to drug trafficking. A source told the newspaper: “Apparently, the characteristics of how these people died seem proper of a settling of accounts.” “Naturally, we now have to deepen the investigations, identify the bodies and know exactly what this is all about," said the unnamed officer of the Police to Diario Libre.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...adaveres-en-la-romana-dos-de-estos-calcinados
http://eldia.com.do/identifican-a-las-tres-personas-encontradas-muertas-en-la-romana/
https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...mana-dos-cuerpos-fueron-calcinados-OM11842936
https://elnacional.com.do/identifican-hombres-quemados-en-yipeta-en-la-romana/
https://elnacional.com.do/identifican-hombres-quemados-en-yipeta-en-la-romana/
https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...rimenes-se-relacionan-con-el-narco-OM11844129
Dominican contacts of Mexico’s El Chapo
Colombian Alex Cifuentes, prosecution witness in the trial against Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera in New York, has confirmed that his one-time boss ordered the murder of at least two people, although neither was actually killed. Cifuentes also explained how they set up routes to take drugs to Mexico from Venezuela, saying that El Chapo used a landing strip in the Dominican Republic as a brief stopover to Mexico from Venezuela. He said that the two contacts in the Dominican Republic were a man called Antonio and another identified as La Serie, who sold drugs for Chapo in New York. The men would discuss how much drugs they could sell a week and the price per kilo of heroin and cocaine.
Cifuentes explained that Guzmán Loera began to traffic heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine to Canada in 2008, but not fulltime, only every 8 or 15 days. That still allowed him to accumulate dozens of millions of dollars.
He went on to say that among those Chapo wanted to kill was his communications engineer, Christian Rodríguez, who he discovered was working for the United States government.
https://listindiario.com/las-mundia...co-en-rd-una-pista-para-enviar-droga-a-mexico
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/14/us/el-chapo-trial-alex-cifuentes-testimony/index.html
https://dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2014/02/24/mexican-drug-lords-clout-reached-dominican-republic/
US Coast Guard detains illegal boat trip
The US Coast Guard announced it intercepted 66 migrants, mainly from the Dominican Republic, in the last 72 hours during five separate operations in the waters near Puerto Rico.
The US Coast Guard reports that three of the men were riding with a Mexican migrant when their craft was intercepted roughly four nautical miles off Manatí, Puerto Rico. Investigators say the Mexican national has possible gang affiliations.
According to federal officials, since 1 October 2018, more than 700 migrants have been stopped while attempting to enter Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands illegally by water, a significant increase over last year.
In addition, over the same time period, the US Coast Guard has seized more than 15,300 pounds of illegal drugs bound for Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands.
https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/n...hours/67-c85940fb-b6e8-4431-ae24-740986c2b89e
Toros del Este vs. Estrellas Orientales
La Romana’s Toros del Este will be playing the Estrellas Orientales for the 2018-2019 Dominican Professional Winter Baseball Championship. The Estrellas, now managed by Fernando Tatis, have their hearts on winning this year. The team has not won a championship in 50 years. To win the slot in the playoffs, the Toros del Este defeated the Leones del Escogido 4-3 at the Quisqueya Ball Park, in a game marked by a dramatic final inning when pitcher Michael Dimock dominated Chris Roberson who went to bat with men on all bases.
The playoffs start on Thursday, 17 January 2019 at 7:30pm, with the first game to be played at the San Pedro de Macoris stadium, the Tetelo Vargas. National District fans will have to travel to San Pedro or to La Romana to see their teams play.
http://www.lidom.com/home/toros-clasifican-a-la-serie-final-con-victoria-sobre-leones/
http://eldia.com.do/toros-avanzan-a-la-final-con-dramatico-triunfo-2/
President Medina calls for start of actions to choose new Supreme Court of Justice judges
Haitians arrested in Valle Nuevo
Barrick Gold lays off personnel
Recycling plant explosion victims critical
National Police changes its men while violent crime is on the rise
Investigations continue of Bani drug sales point
Bodies burned in La Romana
Dominican contacts of Mexico’s El Chapo
US Coast Guard detains illegal boat trip
Toros del Este vs. Estrellas Orientales
Puerto Plata city cargo and passenger port gets its start
President Danilo Medina was in Puerto Plata on Tuesday, 15 January 2019, for the symbolic start of the remodeling of the Puerto Plata cargo dock and the construction of a cruise ship terminal and docks. The project will also include the construction of a special dock for fishing boats, the dredging of the port area and a series of associated port works.
The remolded Puerto Plata port is being promoted as a “multipurpose national port” and will have capacity to receive three cruise ships simultaneously as well as high capacity cargo ships. The project calls for an investment of around US$125 million. Víctor Gómez Casanova, executive director of the National Port Authority, said that he already has commitment letters from five of the leading cruiselines in the Caribbean that will ensure that in the first year of operations around 650,000 cruise passengers will arrive on multiple ships.
Gómez Casanova explained the contract was won by the same Mexican company that operates the ports of Costamaya, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and in Honduras. The Mexican company, Promociones Turísticas Mahahual won the tender carried out by the government for the port and is working together with the local partner, Consorcio Puerto Plata Port Investments in the construction of the port.
The new cruise ship facility will be marketed as Taino Bay. This would be the second cruise ship facility in Puerto Plata. A first, Amber Cove is successfully operated by Carnival Cruise, is located 20 minutes south of the city in Maimón.
https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias...-puerto-plata-inversion-de-us125-millones-que
https://listindiario.com/economia/2019/01/15/549440/inician-reconstruccion-muelle-cruceros
http://hoy.com.do/presidente-medina...ara-reconstruccion-de-puerto-de-puerto-plata/
President Medina calls for start of actions to choose new Supreme Court of Justice judges
President Danilo Medina convened the next session of the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM) for Wednesday, 16 January 2019, in the afternoon. On the agenda for the first meeting is the approval of the assessment rules for the selection of the judges to replace retiring Supreme Court of Justice judges.
Present at the meeting with the President were Mariano Germán Mejia, president of the Supreme Court of Justice; Reinaldo Pared Pérez, president of the Senate; Jean Alain Rodríguez, attorney general of the Republic; Radhames Camacho, president of the Chamber of Deputies; José Ignacio Paliza, senator; Josefa Castillo, deputy; Fran Soto, Supreme Court of Justice judge and secretary of the CNM and Flavio Darío Espinal, legal advisor to the Executive Branch and technical advisor to the CNM.
http://eldia.com.do/presidente-convoca-para-manana-consejo-nacional-de-la-magistratura/
Haitians arrested in Valle Nuevo
Inspectors from the Migration Agency (DGM) accompanied by members of the military have arrested hundreds of Haitians who had invaded land in the communities around the Parque Nacional Juan Bautista Perez Rancier (Valle Nuevo) in Constanza municipality, La Vega province. The operation began around 5am on Tuesday, 15 January 2019, in the communities of Las Auyamas, El Edén, Las Flores and Ojo de Agua Constanza, La Vega and by 8am, the authorities had arrested 287 illegal Haitians.
As reported, the authorities said that many of those arrested had not been in the area long and were growing crops. It was the massive presence of Haitians in the last few days in the area that had alerted the local growers and led to the presence of Migration. The inspectors said that all of those arrested were in the country illegally and they were taken to the border and returned to Haiti.
At the same time, the Ministry of Environment announced actions to install physical signage setting off limits to where farming activities are permitted. Environmentalists and investigative journalists have produced evidence of the lenience of the Ministry of Environment with farming activities in the area where important sources of water are located.
http://hoy.com.do/migracion-detiene-cientos-de-haitianos-en-zonas-aledanas-a-valle-nuevo/
http://eldia.com.do/medio-ambiente-senalizara-limites-de-valle-nuevo/
Barrick Gold lays off personnel
Mining company Barrick Pueblo Viejo has announced that due to a decrease in the price of gold and an increase in their operating costs, the company has decided to dismiss 222 workers from the Cotui mine, located in Sanchez Ramirez province. The mine company spokesman said that since October 2018, employees have been given the option of voluntary early retirement and some 85 workers have taken advantage of the opportunity. All of those let go at this time have received the normal severance pay as stipulated by law as well as provided with assistance to obtain alternative work.
https://listindiario.com/economia/2019/01/15/549508/barrick-pueblo-viejo-despide-a-222-trabajadores
Recycling plant explosion victims critical
Dr. Eddy Bruno, director of the Burns’ Unit at the Ney Arias Lora Hospital, says that the three patients who were burned by the boiler explosion at the Cerantra recycling plant in western Santo Domingo remain in serious condition, with burns covering between 100 and 98% of their bodies. The burns are so severe that the three patients are currently on ventilators. Dr. Bruno said that another patient in the hospital, who suffered burns over 30% of his body from the explosion is better condition, is expected to make a full recovery.
Those burn patients in hospital are Franklin Martínez Romero, aged 24, Freddy Antonio Peña, 51, Rodolfo Fuente, 48, and Agustín Lunque, 36 years. The victims of the explosion are 32 year old Juan Manuel García, and Francisco Suero, aged 48.
The president of the Bayona neighbourhood board had on several occasions warned authorities of the dangers in the operation of the recycling plant. He said over the past four years he had delivered several complaints to the Ministry of Environment but had not been able to convince ministry to act.
http://hoy.com.do/hay-tres-personas-en-estado-critico-tras-explosion-santo-domingo-oeste/
https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2019/01/15/549461/en-lugar-de-explosion-reciclan-combustibles
http://hoy.com.do/video-o-te-callas...e-por-denuncias-a-empresa-que-exploto-en-sdo/
http://eldia.com.do/vecinos-habian-pedido-cierre-de-la-empresa-cerantra-por-anos/
National Police changes its men while violent crime is on the rise
Given the wave of violence in the first 15 days of 2019, the National Police has announced a number of changes of senior officers in the National District and the provinces of Santo Domingo, Santiago, Dajabón, Azua, María Trinidad Sánchez and Samaná.
The new head as director of the Anti-gang department of the National Police is Colonel Salustiano Tineo Matos, who is replacing Brigadier General Mario Objio Morales. Brigadier General Máximo Báez Aybar takes over as regional director of the National District, replacing Colonel Juan Francisco Solano Jáquez, and his post as Regional Director of Santo Domingo North is filled by Brigadier General Mario Objio Morales.
Colonel Juan Francisco Solano Jaquez has been assigned to Dajabon and Colonel Ronald Feliz Batista will assume his dutiess in Azua. In Nagua the head is Colonel Colonel Hanlen Garden Guzman and in Santiago, Colonel Juan Columna Montalvo. Other changes were made in Las Terrenas Villa Mella and Santo Domingo, as reported in Diario Libre.
The changes are occurring at a time when suspected drug trafficking related killings are on the rise. A Diario Libre editorial forecasts that the combination of breakdown in the public order, impunity for criminals, rising drug consumption and cultural and economic difficulties is giving rise to increases in drug trafficking and contracted killings.
http://www.policianacional.gob.do/n...ando-en-la-capital-y-en-el-interior-del-pais/
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...antipandillas-y-realiza-cambios-en-regionales
https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...-13-muertes-en-las-ultimas-semanas-GM11845355
https://www.diariolibre.com/opinion/am/narcotrafico-y-sicariato-sera-peor-BM11848933
Investigations continue of Bani drug sales point
According to Carlos Devers, DNCD spokesman, not only has the drug sales point where Bani Colonel Daniel Ramos Alvarez was killed been raided several times, but the man called Buche, (Rafael Antonio Diaz), has also been arrested several times.
The commission made up of the Police and the Public Prosecution Agency, investigating the death of Colonel Romas Alvarez, met on Monday, 14 January 2019, with the Bani Prosecutors to evaluate the conclusions of the investigation.
The commission is made up of the head of the Central Criminal Investigations Office (Dicrim), General Pablo Arturo Pujols; Police inspector, General Rafael Cabrera Sarita, and Héctor García Cuevas, director of Internal Affairs; prosecutor for the Appeal Court in San Cristobal, Jonathan Baró Gutiérrez, and head prosecutor for Peravia, Ángel Darío Tejeda Fabal. They say they will make their conclusions known to the public by the end of the week. Senator Wilton Guerrero has discredited the investigation, saying that two of the investigators are on the payroll of “Buche.”
Meanwhile, the court in Peravia was expected to announce coercive measures against the three men arrested for the murder of the Colonel which happened on 8 January 201. The Public prosecution service are asking for 18 months on remand for Rafael Antonio Díaz (Buche); Luis Miguel Santana (Walter Antonio Moreta), and Steven Ruiz. They also requested that the case be declared complex, to allow more time to conduct the investigation.
However, the hearing was postponed until 18 January 2019, as the lawyers for the accused said they did not have time to examine the case file. They requested Judge, Rosaura Garabito delay the hearing in order to allow them to prepare a stronger defense.
Also under investigation for the crime are a Lieutenant Colonel and a Captain who were with the Colonel at the time of his death, as well as ten members of Buches’s gang who are on the run.
Meanwhile, Jesus Peña, who identified himself as a brother to Rafael Antonio Diaz (Buche), arrested in the murder of Police colonel Daniel Ramos Alvarez in Baní, says his brother was not at the site at the time of the murder and blames the drug trafficking competition of trying to eliminate that sales point in order to keep the business for themselves. He said drug sales in that area is the norm.
"Here there is competition regarding the points. My brother's point is the best here in Baní. At the time, the others planned to kill the colonel at the point to involve my brother and eliminate the point," explained Buche's brother. Buche is described by his relatives as the owner of the leading drug sales point in Baní.
Peña argued that police officers Marcelino Arias and Leonardo Brazobán, who were accompanying the officer when he was killed, should be investigated, because according to him, they took Ramos there so he be executed.
http://eldia.com.do/dncd-se-defiende-dice-intervino-punto-de-drogas-de-buche-en-20-ocasiones/
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...onel-ramos-mientras-vecinos-defienden-a-buche
http://hoy.com.do/video-hermano-de-...puntos-hicieron-un-complot-para-involucrarlo/
http://hoy.com.do/buche-habia-sido-...de-droga-donde-mataron-coronel-ramos-en-bani/
https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...o-de-droga-en-bani-segun-parientes-MM11848884
Bodies burned in La Romana
On Monday night, 14 January 2019, three bodies were discovered, two burned inside an SUV, in Higueral-Cacata, La Romana province. According to a police report, a third body with a bullet wound was discovered near the vehicle. The victims were identified as Juan Gil Adames, Ángel Carrión and Gregorio Pérez Santana, all residents of La Romana. The motive for the crime is not yet known. At the scene, the police found at least eight bullet casings and believe the victims had been shot and killed before being burned in the vehicle.
The police say they were alerted to the crime at around 5:40pm, and the bodies were taken to the morgue at the La Romana public hospital. According to medical examiner, Benito Kelly, when the bodies were discovered, they had been dead for around 15 hours.
The case is investigated by prosecutor Héctor Julio Matos and the Departament of Criminal Investigations (Dicrim) of the eastern command of the National Police.
Diario Libre says the authorities are linking the deaths to drug trafficking. A source told the newspaper: “Apparently, the characteristics of how these people died seem proper of a settling of accounts.” “Naturally, we now have to deepen the investigations, identify the bodies and know exactly what this is all about," said the unnamed officer of the Police to Diario Libre.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...adaveres-en-la-romana-dos-de-estos-calcinados
http://eldia.com.do/identifican-a-las-tres-personas-encontradas-muertas-en-la-romana/
https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...mana-dos-cuerpos-fueron-calcinados-OM11842936
https://elnacional.com.do/identifican-hombres-quemados-en-yipeta-en-la-romana/
https://elnacional.com.do/identifican-hombres-quemados-en-yipeta-en-la-romana/
https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...rimenes-se-relacionan-con-el-narco-OM11844129
Dominican contacts of Mexico’s El Chapo
Colombian Alex Cifuentes, prosecution witness in the trial against Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera in New York, has confirmed that his one-time boss ordered the murder of at least two people, although neither was actually killed. Cifuentes also explained how they set up routes to take drugs to Mexico from Venezuela, saying that El Chapo used a landing strip in the Dominican Republic as a brief stopover to Mexico from Venezuela. He said that the two contacts in the Dominican Republic were a man called Antonio and another identified as La Serie, who sold drugs for Chapo in New York. The men would discuss how much drugs they could sell a week and the price per kilo of heroin and cocaine.
Cifuentes explained that Guzmán Loera began to traffic heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine to Canada in 2008, but not fulltime, only every 8 or 15 days. That still allowed him to accumulate dozens of millions of dollars.
He went on to say that among those Chapo wanted to kill was his communications engineer, Christian Rodríguez, who he discovered was working for the United States government.
https://listindiario.com/las-mundia...co-en-rd-una-pista-para-enviar-droga-a-mexico
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/14/us/el-chapo-trial-alex-cifuentes-testimony/index.html
https://dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2014/02/24/mexican-drug-lords-clout-reached-dominican-republic/
US Coast Guard detains illegal boat trip
The US Coast Guard announced it intercepted 66 migrants, mainly from the Dominican Republic, in the last 72 hours during five separate operations in the waters near Puerto Rico.
The US Coast Guard reports that three of the men were riding with a Mexican migrant when their craft was intercepted roughly four nautical miles off Manatí, Puerto Rico. Investigators say the Mexican national has possible gang affiliations.
According to federal officials, since 1 October 2018, more than 700 migrants have been stopped while attempting to enter Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands illegally by water, a significant increase over last year.
In addition, over the same time period, the US Coast Guard has seized more than 15,300 pounds of illegal drugs bound for Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands.
https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/n...hours/67-c85940fb-b6e8-4431-ae24-740986c2b89e
Toros del Este vs. Estrellas Orientales
La Romana’s Toros del Este will be playing the Estrellas Orientales for the 2018-2019 Dominican Professional Winter Baseball Championship. The Estrellas, now managed by Fernando Tatis, have their hearts on winning this year. The team has not won a championship in 50 years. To win the slot in the playoffs, the Toros del Este defeated the Leones del Escogido 4-3 at the Quisqueya Ball Park, in a game marked by a dramatic final inning when pitcher Michael Dimock dominated Chris Roberson who went to bat with men on all bases.
The playoffs start on Thursday, 17 January 2019 at 7:30pm, with the first game to be played at the San Pedro de Macoris stadium, the Tetelo Vargas. National District fans will have to travel to San Pedro or to La Romana to see their teams play.
http://www.lidom.com/home/toros-clasifican-a-la-serie-final-con-victoria-sobre-leones/
http://eldia.com.do/toros-avanzan-a-la-final-con-dramatico-triunfo-2/