The Customs Office and the Armed Forces have 15 people under investigation for the huge contraband of alcoholic beverages that were being smuggled into the country. The people include merchants and property owners in different locals around the country. According to Miguel Cocco, the Director General of the Customs Department, six will be indicted today. According to Cocco, he and Admiral Sigfrido Pared Perez are heading the investigations and the task force that confiscated thousands of cases of whisky and wine over the weekend in Santiago, Moca and Santo Domingo, as well as some other places. The Attorney General of the Dominican Republic, Francisco Domingue Brito and the District Attorney for Santo Domingo, Jose Manuel Hernandez, and Raul Martinez, the DA for Santiago, all participated in the effort. At 4 pm o’clock Saturday afternoon, the prosecutors arrested Jose Rafael Perez and Julio Cesar Pichardo, and while they announced the indictments, there was no court session at the courthouse in Ciudad Nueva in Santo Domingo. The government also confiscated SUVs and a Mercedez Benz, along with the whisky and wine contraband. According to the El Caribe, although it has been denied in another paper, the prosecutor’s office also questioned Vice Minister of the Armed Forced, vice-admiral Julio Cesar Ventura Bayonet in relation to the case. In statements made by Miguel Cocco, the total amount of unpaid customs duties is close to RD$450 million.