The local justice department has requested that the Judicial Office for Permanent Attention in Santiago remit to custody two women who are tied to the almost US$1.5 million in cash that were seized last week in the Port of Haina, in western Santo Domingo. They are suspect of being part of an international network of drug trafficking and money laundering.
Dominicans Luisa Amelia Fermin Hernandez and Miguelina Franco were caught “red-handed” according to the District Attorney on 30 April 2018 afternoon in Santiago. They are the mother and wife of one of the suspect chiefs of the organization, Dominican Fernando José Esteffani Fermin, who is being sought on an international arrest warrant obtained by the justice department this week. State prosecutors reported yesterday that in addition to Estaffani Fermin, they have also issued arrest warrants for Josuan Enmanuel Fernandez Fernandez, Marcos F Peña and Francisco Vargas, all three Dominicans. Diego Fernando Gutierrez Delgado, a Venezuelan and Luis Carlos Gutierrez Morales, a Colombian, are also being sought.
The Justice Ministry has also requested the court declare this case complex, in part, because the authorities found an important amount of drugs while they were executing a search warrant of the apartment in Santiago belonging to Fernando José Esteffani Fermin. The search also discovered 31 packages of cocaine inside a vehicle belonging to the accused.
According to the Diario Libre, besides the US $1,458,570 that was seized last week in Haina, the group is also tied to another US$745,180 that were seized in the same place on 1 May 2018 in a joint operation by the Justice Department, the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) and the Customs Agency. The investigation has also brought about the seizure of some 20 vehicles as well as other properties that are being investigated by the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif).
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Washington Post
3 May 2018
