Former army captain Quirino Paulino Castillo did not receive a wage from the military, said yesterday Armed Forces Minister Sigfrido Pared Perez, as reported in Diario Libre. He said that in the same conditions during the past government a brother, son and several nephews of Quirino, who is accused of drug trafficking by the DR and New York courts, were also entered into the army. Pared Perez told the press they did not have any military roles. Quirino Paulino Castillo was arrested in Santo Domingo on 18 December 2004 following a drug bust of a shipment of 1,387 kilos of cocaine. Last week he was extradited to New York where he was arraigned in a New York court where he faces five counts of conspiracy and smuggling.
In a new development on the Quirino case, Hoy newspaper reported yesterday former chief of the Army, Manuel Ernesto Polanco Salvador said that he told the prosecutors of the case that army colonel Rafael Gonzalez y Gonzalez used an army stamp with his signature, but without his authorization, to readmit Quirino Paulino to the army as a captain. Polanco Salvador said he discovered the irregularity five months afterwards and ordered the cancellation of Quirino. Quirino would latter be readmitted by Polanco Salvador’s successor, retired Major General Jorge Radhames Zorrilla Ozuna who said he did so following superior orders.
Gonzalez y Gonzalez was removed from the army following the change of government with the rank of general.