The high-ranking military commission in charge of investigating the death of six Haitians and one Dominican in a people-smuggling operation along the frontier released its report on Wednesday in a press conference. Five Haitians and one Dominican died of bullet wounds, while another Haitian died of contusions when the truck overturned following a chase with a frontier patrol. Thirty Haitians attempting to make it to the DR had been lying down on the loading platform of the truck hidden under a canvas. The dead Dominican assisted the driver. The military patrol had been inspecting all vehicles at a frontier checkpoint at 3 in the morning after receiving intelligence reports of a drug smuggling operation. The military patrol ordered the truck to stop to be checked, and the driver reacting stepping on the gas. The patrol chased the truck for 17 kilometers until it overturned after being shot at by the patrol. The military commission said that at the start of the chase the patrol had made several shots to the air, warning the truck driver to stop. The latter instead, reportedly just sped on, zigzagging to avoid his persecutors. The driver, Felix Antonio Núñez was found to be a well-known people-smuggler, and the same truck had been confiscated by the military three times before, being released by the judiciary. The owner of the truck, Ramón Aramis Estevez, who also had been prosecuted in the past, is on the run. Major General José Eliseo Noble Espejo, deputy chief of the Armed Forces, and head of the investigating commission, said that the patrol officers would be sent to a military war council to establish responsibilities in the death of seven and injuries caused to six others. He urged that the judicial system apply Law 344 that establishes severe penalties for those smuggling people. He said that if the law had been correctly applied, this incident would not have happened. He said that as phase two of the investigations, the military would continue to investigate the military that are said to be accepting bribes from people-smugglers at frontier checkpoints.
