Citizen Participation (PC) states that only through complicity and bribery could César Emilio Peralta have been able to operate for 20 years in complete impunity. Peralta is accused of leading the leading drug trafficking and asset laundering operation in the Caribbean.
The civic watchdog organization says that the investigation of César Emilio Peralta’s criminal organization must begin with the authorities themselves and must be led by a UN commission of experts.
The civic movement is the Dominican chapter of Transparency International. It demands an independent investigation led by experts appointed by the United Nations (UN) in collaboration with the authorities.
PC highlights that Peralta created a criminal structure of such magnitude that he and his top associates were able to again use complicity in government to elude arrest after the United States government denounced them.
The FBI, the CIA, the United States Treasury Department and its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Secretary of Security, the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General participated in the investigation of the Peralta Drug Trafficking Operation, explains the civic movement. As part of US government actions, a list of nine Dominicans, including Cesar Emilio Peralta are penalized under the Kingpin Designation of Foreign Narcotics Act (Kingpin Act). This bans any kind of financial operations with these individuals.
Participación Ciudadana laments that the investigation into the crime operation had to come from abroad. So far, none of those identified by the US authorities have been arrested. Local law enforcement officers carried out a raid on Peralta DTO residences and property, involving more than 600 people, including 50 career prosecutors and 500 members of the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD).
Participación Ciudadana writes that the lack of arrests of the Kingpin Act designated persons reflects the infiltration of the Peralta DTO in the agencies that prosecute crimes related to drug trafficking and money laundering.
Participación Ciudadana says that “this is not a hard blow to drug trafficking, but to the credibility of our authorities, who no longer have the confidence of the citizenry to conduct an investigation that must begin within themselves”. The institution requests that the competent authorities require the collaboration of the UN for the designation of a specialized body to carry out an in-depth investigation that can identify the local authorities that have served impunity for more than 20 years to the Peralta DTO.
Participación Ciudadana states that President Danilo Medina, who appoints those who have been responsible for these impunity over 20 years cannot continue to remain silent in the face of facts that are under his responsibility. PC urges the President to address the nation to explain what actions he will take in this regard.
Read more in Spanish:
Participacion Ciudadana
Hoy
28 August 2019