At least four of the seven youths riddled with bullets in a house under construction in Navarrete, a town next to Santiago de los Caballeros, had been tortured before their executions. General Bernardo Santiago, the police investigator assigned to the case, says that so far the only certainty was that the crime committed was a multiple homicide. He said there is speculation over whether the group was collectively murdered regarding a dispute over a drug sales post.
Relatives of the youths, however, deny they were involved in drug trafficking and have requested an indepth investigation. They said the men worked transporting passengers on motorbike, selling fruit or in free zone industries.
El Caribe reported that police had identified the victims as Juan Ignacio Hernandez Rosario (El Quimico), 21, Vidal Dionisio Tavarez Jaquez (Vidalito), 28, Esmelvi Delgado Bisono (Mendy), 40, Andres Nunez Perez, 20, Juan Pablo Reyes Mezquita (Cha), 26, Pascual Rafael Mejia Paulino, 24, and Miguel Mercado Beato, 40. Some 68 bullets were found in the house.
Neighbors at the scene of the crime told El Caribe reporters that drug vendors operated 24 hours a day without any intervention from local authorities. The house is property of a woman who lives in New York. Residents also say they denounced the criminal activity to police, who in response merely intensified their collection of “tolls” to look the other way. Braulio Vargas, one of the few willing to speak openly said, “In Navarrete we have always said that drugs are taking over society, but that the government bodies that are suppose to act were not doing anything, but collecting ‘tolls’,” he said.
News reports indicate an increased volume of drugs trafficked from Haiti to the Dominican Republic, and that these traffickers are being paid with drugs for local sale.
Colonel Felix Bello, Navarrete’s police chief, said he was aware of the rumors, but were limited to sending the report to the Department of Drug Control (DNCD).