Ramón Elias Tavárez Lebrón, who is allegedly responsible for the dropping of 225 kilos of cocaine on his property in Puerto Plata last month, has been arrested by agents of the National Directorate of Drug Control (DNCD). Mr. Tavárez Lebrón, whose name was mentioned on numerous occasions during the 1996 presidential campaign by critics of presidential candidate, Dr. Jose Francisco Pena Gomez, denied any connection with the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD).
Some opponents of Dr. Peña Gómez and the PRD claimed that Mr. Tavárez Lebrón was a business partner of Luis De Camps, the brother of PRD General Secretary Hatuey De Camps.
In addition to Mr. Tavárez Lebrón, Belkys Matos Saldaña was also arrested by the DNCD. Mrs. Matos Saldaña is the wife of Rolando Florian Féliz, the convicted drug trafficker who, according to the DNCD and the National Police, was the main link between the Cali drug cartel in Colombia and was taken into custody last month. Mr. Florian Féliz is wanted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the U.S. Embassy has requested his extradition to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.