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- Thread starter Tallman1818
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Drug mules travelling with children??????
Great stuff LJ. Whatever people have done a dominican jail cannot be fun. Good on you dork.
mattie
Yes well done LauraJane; individuals volunteering always work well. If they turn out to be guilty (the adults that is) steel yourself against manipulation and the most amazing set of 'excuses'......................if they are addicts they will be experienced at this. If they are innocent they will probably just be shell shocked.
Well i will see what i can do and let you know. My biggest concern is what happens to two beautiful, blond children in a dominican orphanage. And even if they are lucky enough to have truly caring individuals looking after them, the language barrier and trauma would be enough to terrify any child and most adults i would have thought.
I will try and put together some kind of wash bag for her etc, And i will find out even if the children are going to be at the mercy of the authorities if maybe some of us dr1ers could put together some clothes and toys for them, as i am sure all the luggage was seized and they have nothing.
Anyway, will do my best!
I will try and put together some kind of wash bag for her etc, And i will find out even if the children are going to be at the mercy of the authorities if maybe some of us dr1ers could put together some clothes and toys for them, as i am sure all the luggage was seized and they have nothing.
Anyway, will do my best!
LJ - Keep me posted on your visit tomorrow and let me know if we can help. Mr. SG is worried about the kids also and would like to help them as well and you know they are welcome here as well if something can be arranged. Hopefully this woman has been in touch with a lawyer and is working on getting her children home to a safe place.
Let me know if you need me to talk to the Fiscal to see if I can get any info. As you know, under very unpleasant circumstances I have become very friendly with him and know almost all of them over there.
Let me know if you need me to talk to the Fiscal to see if I can get any info. As you know, under very unpleasant circumstances I have become very friendly with him and know almost all of them over there.
I think a focus on the children is right and would be understood by everyone. You won't know until you get there whether the parents are guilty or not - what I mean is you'll get a hunch as to whether you think they are guilty or not (the Court finding could be a different matter entirely!). My personal advice would be to avoid getting hooked into the legal side of the case - lawyers, Fiscals etc. This is the Embassy's job - to recommend a lawyer - & they should do that. Laurajane, you don't want to find yourself put in the position of go-between between accused & lawyer & Embassy. Since it is a drug case it could rub off on your reputation in the area which I'm sure is currently spotless. What you don't want is the local mule organisers thinking you're a friend of the accused & coming to ask you if you've got any more 'friends'.................if you follow my drift.
If these people & their 4 kilos were the 'sacrificial lambs' to allow another 20 kilos to go through undetected, then there might be interests around which won't want that discovered. This is pure speculation but it IS possible; the important thing is to take every step to protect yourself.
Your best bet by far is to focus on the children & to work collaboratively with the Embassy & get either Ian or Vyanella's approval. This will act as a protection against 'misinterpretation'
.And only come back & tell us what is appropriate - a lot won't be at this stage of the judicial process (if you read the thread from 4 years ago you'll know we had to remain silent for a lot of the time).
I hope this doesn't sound like teaching you to suck eggs :cheeky:; it isn't meant to be, just passing on what I learned on the prison visiting lark, sometimes through trial & error!
Laurajane - the women's prison is in La Malena - there you can get info if she is still there or if they were sent to Santo Domingo (timeline not probable though). They may also be at DNCD (in front of park) but most likely the guy is in the main jail (two blocks from basilica) and the woman in La Malena.
PM me your cell, I will PM you mine. Precautions need to be taken when you go there, so as not to be connected to the "case".
PM me your cell, I will PM you mine. Precautions need to be taken when you go there, so as not to be connected to the "case".
You put it so much more succinctly, rubio_higuey,
but I couldn't agree more. It's a serious business visiting prisons here, with a lot of ramifications. I wouldn't put anyone off BUT you need to know what you're doing.Its specially sad for the kids but this is what the parents are facing.....
But most likely....
LAW No. 50-88 [OF 30 MAY 1988] ON DRUGS A
But most likely....
LAW No. 50-88 [OF 30 MAY 1988] ON DRUGS A
Pity they took no notice of the latest UK Foreign Office advice
You should never become involved with drugs of any kind in the Dominican Republic. There are severe penalties for all drug offences. If you are found guilty of being in possession of drugs you are likely to receive a long prison sentence plus a hefty fine. Arrests of British Nationals for being in possession of drugs when leaving the Dominican Republic have sharply increased since 2006. Possession of even small quantities of illegal drugs can lead to imprisonment. All sentences are served in the Dominican Republic where prison conditions are harsh. You should pack all your own luggage yourself and do not carry anything through customs for anyone else.
The DNCD (Dominican Drug Enforcement Agency) has stepped up their efforts to clamp down on drugs with several recent examples of successful operations. Seizures at ports and airports around the Dominican Republic have increased and included a high number of foreigners, including British nationals, detected by sniffer dog units.
Matilda
You should never become involved with drugs of any kind in the Dominican Republic. There are severe penalties for all drug offences. If you are found guilty of being in possession of drugs you are likely to receive a long prison sentence plus a hefty fine. Arrests of British Nationals for being in possession of drugs when leaving the Dominican Republic have sharply increased since 2006. Possession of even small quantities of illegal drugs can lead to imprisonment. All sentences are served in the Dominican Republic where prison conditions are harsh. You should pack all your own luggage yourself and do not carry anything through customs for anyone else.
The DNCD (Dominican Drug Enforcement Agency) has stepped up their efforts to clamp down on drugs with several recent examples of successful operations. Seizures at ports and airports around the Dominican Republic have increased and included a high number of foreigners, including British nationals, detected by sniffer dog units.
Matilda
To me the fact that their children where with them only indicates that this was a good decoy to employ, thus seeming like a normal family on a holiday. No surprise there. We don't know but there is a possibility this is not the first time this couple attempted this. I did find it interesting that they did not try to really hide the stash inside hidden compartments or hollowed out shoe heels. Lots of question out there. Sometimes the lure of money blinds the adults to the detriment of the innocents.
Think you came into the wrong thread here but in answer to your questions:
1. Don't drink the tap water, buy bottled.
2. Where are you planning to stay in the DR? Going out at night should be fine depending on the area but you will be pushed to find markets near to where I live.
3. Don't stay on the resort or you will not experience the true DR in any way at all.
Welcome to DR1 and have a great time when you visit.
Well i went to Higuey prison today to first see the gentleman or find out for sure where they both were, The police there said that he had had foreign visitors and that he was in contact with lawyers and so on, so i left it at that and tried to find the woman. They said she was in EL Seibo, so we travelled there and was told that no she wasn't there, possibly La Romana. After some time we found out she was in fact in Higuey after all.
We returned and spoke to the officer in charge and he also said that she was there but had also had foreign visitors, English i don't know but also that her parents were arriving this coming thursday and were able to take the children back to the U.K.
The children are in the custody of a female lawyer, where and for how long they wouldn't say. It seems the police and other autorities here believe she is innocent and the gentleman guilty, but i wouldn't like to speculate.
The main worry for myself and others here were that the children were being taken care of and family had in deed been contacted. So rather than implicate myself further and get involved in something like this i left it at that. I am sure you will all appreciate that fact.
I don't know how her visitors were but she seems to be getting help and has translators and such.
Sorry i couldn't be of more help, but just glad the kids will be returning back to U.K soon, even if the mother will not.
Laura
We returned and spoke to the officer in charge and he also said that she was there but had also had foreign visitors, English i don't know but also that her parents were arriving this coming thursday and were able to take the children back to the U.K.
The children are in the custody of a female lawyer, where and for how long they wouldn't say. It seems the police and other autorities here believe she is innocent and the gentleman guilty, but i wouldn't like to speculate.
The main worry for myself and others here were that the children were being taken care of and family had in deed been contacted. So rather than implicate myself further and get involved in something like this i left it at that. I am sure you will all appreciate that fact.
I don't know how her visitors were but she seems to be getting help and has translators and such.
Sorry i couldn't be of more help, but just glad the kids will be returning back to U.K soon, even if the mother will not.
Laura
What was that about the kids going to orphanages in Santo Domingo and they were going to suffer at the hands of this terrible Dominican justice system.....The couples family seems to have mobilized and doing what family members do, help. Nice job Laura for your help and investigation. Great news to hear the kids will be going back home with family members.
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Sounds very much like the Embassy has done their stuff & have matters in hand. The foreign visitors might well have been Embassy personnel. You did absolutely the right thing in extricating yourself at this point, laurajane. Well done for your efforts. If the mother isn't released after the Court case you'll have about 8 years in which to visit her if you want to............
Sure are! Particularly if one party put it in the other party's luggage! Again quite possible that they're both innocent as per:
We will doubtless hear in due course. But great news about the children & thank you for looking into it, laurajane.
. I can just see those kids back at school in UK in the 'what I did on my summer holiday' show and tell........They're going to miss their parents, though.
Don;t pick on me on this one... I just said what I heard from a lawyer's messenger boy...
4 - and - a - half kilos is too much I suppose for it to be a decoy and they to be sacrificial lambs. Like had they found a pound or a kilo that could be said they were sacrificial lambs/decoys/etc. But that is a sizable quantity for the drug lords to lose as "collateral damage". I think at least one of them has to be guilty. But as we are here in the city, Laura and I will be checking the case update and if there is any interesting news I am sure either one of us will post it here.
I assume they are innocent until found guilty, BUT how can someone trying to take 4 ? kg cocaine out of the country not be guilty. Perhaps they were stupid and didn?t pack the bags themselves, but the coke was in their baggage when it was found and not somebody elses?s. Still no excuse for stupidity. Hope the kids grow up.<o></o>