National Department for Drug Control (DNCD) agents have carried out two searches in apartments in Santo Domingo’s upscale residential La Esperilla neighborhood. The result: US$4.6 million in cash in a Mercedes Benz SUV parked outside the Torre Alto Paraiso building. This is the largest ever confiscation of cash by the DNCD.
According to Hoy newspaper, the agents were on the trail of Cristian Almonte Peguero, who is being sought for extradition by the US. In the search they found a bunch of keys and when they went to the parking area they found the black-windowed, armored SUV and the huge stash of money in three bags.
The main suspect in the search is said to have escaped capture as he fled in a Jeep Cherokee which he later left abandoned on Roberto Pastoriza Ave.
According to DNCD spokesperson Roberto Lebron, the department is extending its search to find the rest of the group that allegedly specializes in money laundering.
Lebron explained that they found lots of keys in apartments 14-B and 15-B of the Torre Alto Paraiso. The agents went down to the parking lot and activated one of the keys, opening the black Mercedes Benz, license plate Z-000536, where three packages with the money in US$100 bills was found.
Several luxury SUVs, weapons, ammunition, expensive watches and communications equipment were also seized. The main suspect, Cristian Almonte Peguero left ammunition clips, gun licenses, a National Department of Investigations (DNI) identification card, and several car keys in the abandoned Jeep Cherokee.
At the Torre Alto Paraiso, the DNCD agents also seized a Toyota Land Cruiser and a Mazda CX-9, both of which were taken to the DNCD headquarters.