Former Police lieutenant Luis Ricardo Reyes Mendoza appeared before the Southern District Court of New York yesterday. A note from the prosecutor’s office says that the officer used his high position in the Customs Office to determine in a corrupt way if the Dominican police and the Drug Enforcement Administration of the US were following members of the drug trafficking organization in the Dominican Republic. The note from the Southern District Court said that Reyes Mendoza passed along his information to the gang members to help them avoid capture. The official was intercepted as he questioned an officer about certain information “in exchange for a present.” Reyes Mendoza’s arrest is part of Operation Crown Jewels, a joint investigation between the United States and Dominican Republic authorities.