State prosecutors will be asking for preventive custody for the 35 people who were arrested when the authorities thwarted a drug trafficking operation earlier this week at the Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ). They impounded 682 packages of cocaine that were bound for France from PUJ. The list of people arrested includes a lieutenant colonel, a major and four captains. In a press release, the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) says that the arrests fall under the jurisdiction of Higuey.
The drugs were found in 26 suitcases on board a private plane. “We are talking about a modern jet with three turbines with capacity for transatlantic flights,” said DNCD chief Major General Rolando Rosado Mateo, who announced that the plane had been seized by the authorities.
The DNCD says that several of the people being held could be extradited for prosecution abroad, as reported in Hoy.
Rosado Mateo said that the network members had made changes to the flight plan several times, and planned to depart to Puerto Rico, which means they could be extradited to the United States to face charges in a US jurisdiction court.
Rosado Mateo said that the officers and agents under arrest are involved in what he described as “high-level corruption” and acted as facilitators for the drug trafficking network that shipped hundreds of kilos of cocaine via the Punta Cana International Airport. He said that Customs Department employees are also involved.
He said that one of the two DNCD agents who were named was acting as an undercover agent in the operation working under the Prosecutor General office.
Assistant prosecutor Carlos Castillo Diaz said that the senior officer in the case is Lieutenant Colonel Jose Brazoban Adames, who is assigned to the Specialized Airport Security Corps (CESA), and is responsible for operations at the terminal where the small Falcon 50 (registration F-GXMC, model 1989) jet loaded with the drugs was being serviced in the VIP area. The consignment was being sent to the Versailles airport in France, with a stopover in the Azores. Three crewmembers and a passenger are under arrest. They were named as French nationals Pascal Jean Furet, Bruno Armand Victor Ados, Alain Marc Paul Marie Castany and Nicolas Christopher Pisapia.
The DNCD has named Captain Bolivar Alberto Mercado Diaz as head of the network. He is under arrest along with fellow captains Santana Nunez, Jose Manuel Celedonio Castro, Wascar Francisco Zapata Ramirez and Rafael Anibal de la Rosa Tapia, and lieutenants Joan Antonio Daniel Rosario, Andres Avelino Mendez Garcia, Arencio Guevara Guevara, Miguel Damian Florimon, Kissoris Ciprian and Carlos H. Martinez. Sergeants Rolando Colime Rojas and Bienvenido Perez Mesa, Juan Santana and private Andris Ozuna Nova are also under arrest.
Civilians mentioned in connection with the case are Manauris Encarnacion Sanchez, Cristian Miguel Sanchez Sosa, Danny Daniel Balbuena Bejaran, Michell Camilo Bacha Mateo, Irvin Arias Santana and Jorge Manon Perez, as well as agents Orlando Francisco Franco Noble, Brayan Valerio Santos.
The DNCD began monitoring the network’s activities seven months ago, and has documented other cases of sending hundreds of kilograms to several countries in Europe, especially the Netherlands and France. The DNCD report says more arrest warrants will be issued.
Prosecutor Castillo Diaz and Major General Rosado Mateo of the DNCD displayed the confiscated drugs at a press conference, accompanied by Generals Juan Manuel Puig Hernandez, deputy chief of the Dominican Air Force, and Valentin Rosado Vicioso, director of the Information and Joint Coordination Center (CICC), as well as DNCD press officer Roberto Lebron.
www.listin.com.do/la-republica/2013/3/21/270398/Autoridades-identifican-a-los-oficialesy-civiles-vinculados-a-alijo-de
www.hoy.com.do/el-pais/2013/3/21/472412/Jefe-DNCD-revela-nombres-de-oficiales-detenidos-por-caso-Punta-Cana-dice