The Attorney General Office is investigating a case of asset laundering involving Carlos Villavizar Guzman, a former associate of convicted drug dealer Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo. Villavizar is in jail in La Vega in connection with cocaine found hidden amongst a consignment of pineapples for export to the Netherlands. The cocaine was seized in Cotui. Villavizar was arrested in October 2015 together with Hendrick Antonio Gil Aracena, Eliezel Salvador (El Shorty) and Gabriel Valdez accused of leading a gang that shipped drugs to Europe. He was also sentenced in the United States in 2009 for belonging to the drug network led by Paulino Castillo, but was deported to the DR after serving his sentence. Cotui Prosecutor Juana Hernandez has asked for the process to be heard in the National District for security reasons. Assistant prosecutor German Miranda Villalona is in charge of the asset laundering case.