The preliminary hearing for the murder case against the former president of the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD), 61-year old Felix Alburquerque Comprés, was postponed for 31 August 2022. Alburquerque had told a journalist he “lost it” after getting into a fist-fight with the victim, who reportedly was under the influence of alcohol. There are seven witnesses in this case.
The judge that would have heard the case, Juan Francisco Rodríguez Consoró, removed himself from the case after previously making a remark in private that he would order preventive custody upon seeing the surveillance video on the killing. In the surveillance video, Alburquerque Compres is seen firing a second shot to sports communicator Manuel Taveras Duncan, when the later was lying face down on the ground after receiving a first shot.
The sister of the victim, Esther Taveras Duncan is asking for an independent prosecutor to handle the case. She is critical of the categorization of the crime made by the Attorney General Office prosecutor that she says would enable lawyers to argue for a lesser sentence. She called for Attorney General Miriam German Brito to name an independent prosecutor in the case.
The case is contaminated from the start because the case is categorized as a homicide when it is murder,” said the sister. She stressed: “He went in persecution of my brother.”
She said it was murder because the former Vice Admiral Felix Alburquerque Comprés “went to look for him, shot him and shot him at point blank range and, in other words, it was not in a fight that he was shot.”
A Diario Libre report delves into the past history of the high-ranking military and finds out that he had been accused of a similar crime when he started out his career. Diario Libre reports that back in 1992, Alburquerque Compres had been accused of death of 24-year old police corporal, Alfredo de Jesús Jiménez Mateo, in an incident in an entertainment center in the barrio of Invivienda. The file on the case says that the military had disarmed the policeman and then killed him in a discussion. Alburquerque at the time only served two months in preventive custody.
The Diario Libre news story by journalist Balbiery Rosario reveals that while Alburquerque Compres was accused of murder, he was not sentenced and the case did not progress in court. Instead, nine years later, in 2001, former President Hipolito Mejia reinstated him to the Navy, promoting him to the rank of lieutenant.
He also had the blessings of former President Leonel Fernandez who decorated him for excellence in service in 2009 and in 2011 appointed him in charge of the Puerto Multimodal Caucedo. In May 2012, he was promoted to vice admiral by Fernandez.
During the administration of former President Danilo Medina, Alburquerque Compres was named deputy chief of the Navy from the start of the Medina administration on 16 August 2016. Medina would decorate him in service. He was appointed representative of the Armed Forces to the United Nations. In 2019, he was named president of the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD).
His military career ended when President Luis Abinader retired him on 4 December 2020 with full enjoyment of his pension.
Somos Pueblo also revealed more on Alburquerque Compres and interviewed retired Samana Navy commander Huascar Peña. Peña explained how his life changed after being involved in the case of a major drug load Las Terrenas area. The boat was dismantled by order of his military superiors.
Manuel Taveras Duncan leaves three orphan children.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
El Caribe
Noticias SIN
Hoy
Somos Pueblo
Somos Pueblo
Hoy
Noticias SIN
N Digital
N Digital
Dexia Abogados – different between murder and assassination
Attorney General Office
Somos Pueblo
23 August 2022