It has been seven months since the drug trafficking convict Pedro Alejandro Castillo Paniagua (Quirinito) disappeared and the investigation by the Public Prosecution service is apparently under wraps, since no one in the general public knows what is going. The Public Prosecutor has confirmed that Quirinito is still alive.
It appears that RD$40 million was paid in bribes for Quirinto’s escape and those who received the bribes have been threatened if they talk to authorities. One of the government officials suspended for having taken part in the escape said he would prefer to go to jail than put his family in danger. According to sources at Hoy newspaper, he received $40,000 for his part in the escape.
In the Quirinito case, several people have been suspended including medical examiner Orlando Herrera Robles; prosecutors Felipe Restituyo and José Calazán; judges Aleyda Jiménez, and Willy de Jesús; and Franklin Ortega, head of the supervision of the inmates on part time release at the Vista al Valle jail.
Jennifer Domínguez Hernández, wife of Quirinito, insists that her husband is dead but will not say where his remains are. Elizabeth Ramirez, assistant to Domínguez Hernández, stated that her employer is still under medical treatment but would offer no more information. In October last year Domínguez was hospitalized reportedly suffering from mental health issues, but overcame this some ten days later.
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Hoy
7 February 2018
