19-year old Spanish citizen Erik Padrón Montilla was sentenced to three months pre-trial detention in an El Seibo court yesterday. He was ordered to serve the detention in the Anamuya jail in La Altagracia province. Judge Sindy Elisabeth Rosario Santana ordered the preventive custody after accusing Padrón of ties to the murder of two Dutch citizens, found with multiple bullet wounds in Mata de Palma, El Seibo. Prosecutors had asked for a year in preventive custody. Padrón’s lawyers say he is accused to cover up for others.
Padron was arrested in a villa in Casa de Campo in La Romana. He is investigated for his ties to the deaths of Dutchmen 34-year old, Rachid Benbouker, and 36-year old Cuma Ceviz, 36, who were murdered execution style and dumped in a ditch in Mata de Palma, El Seibo. It appears they were killed by paramilitaries from Curacao and are suspect to have been heads of an international drug dealing ring in the east of the country. The victims are suspect to have been murdered after being involved in the recent seizing of more than a ton of drugs by the authorities in El Seibo and Juan Dolio.
It appears that the victims arrived on Monday, 12 June and stayed in the villa in Casa de Campo on Monday 12 June. On Wednesday 14 June, the hit men from Curacao arrived. Benbouker and Ceviz were killed on the night on Monday 19 June, and the individuals from Curacao reportedly left the country on Tuesday 20 June. An arrest warrant has been issued by Interpol for the suspects form Curacao.
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Listin Diario
4 July 2017