The name of Vice President of the Senate, Cesar Augusto Matias Perez (PRD-Valverde) is on the registration of the S500L Mercedes Benz that former army captain Quirino Paulino Castillo was driving when he was arrested for alleged involvement in the 1,387 kilos of cocaine bust on 18 December. The Listin Diario newspaper publishes today the copy of the vehicle ownership certificate. The senator had imported the vehicle using one of two tax exemptions the state grants to legislators during their four-year term. District Attorney Jose Hernandez Peguero, who is in charge of the case, released the certificate to the press. As reported in the Listin Diario, the registration and license plate of the vehicle should be that of AZ-1291. But when Quirino Paulino Castillo was arrested, the vehicle was using the license plate with the numbers XX-3547.
Paulino was arrested when agents stopped a truck driven by Tirso Cuevas Nin, accompanied by lieutenant colonel Lidio Arturo Nin Terrero with the cocaine cargo onboard as it head north on Duarte Highway.
Meanwhile, the head of the chief of staff of the National Army, Major General Jose Estrella, revealed that a person laid a blank check from Quirino Paulino Castillo on his desk in order to “facilitate” Paulino’s reinstatement into the Army with the rank of a captain.
The blank check reported by General Estrella came when the Army was going through a process of “cleansing” its ranks. Some 500 people were removed from service.
Meanwhile, a well-organized group of people carried signs outside of the District Attorney’s offices in Santo Domingo in support of Quirino Paulino. The “protestors” demanded that Quirino be transferred to the prison at Najayo. His lawyer, Felix Olivares, told reporters that his cient was being forced to endure “an institutional kidnapping” since he was being held in isolation and under constant guard. The state prosecutors have explained they are keeping him at the Drug Control (DNCD) jail for his own safety.