The National Direction of Drug Control (DNCD) arrested Jose Arismendy Almonte Pena, better known as “Joselito.com,” under charges of narcotics trafficking on a national and international level. The popular bachata artist was detained on Saturday near the toll booth on Km 25 of the Duarte Highway, en route to his hometown of Santiago, said Lt. Colonel Jacobo Mateo Moquete on behalf of the DNCD. Almonte Pena has been wanted by police since 12 November 2003, when US anti-drug agencies conducted several operations in New York, Washington, Miami and other cities. He is allegedly responsible for bringing thousands of kilos of cocaine into the DR. Mateo Moquete said that such crackdowns are being performed in tandem with authorities of the US, Columbia and Venezuela to effectively eradicate a powerful international network of drug traffickers that has been under surveillance for over a year. In Santo Domingo, two other wanted men were apprehended on Avenida 27 Febrero. Nilvio Armando Cuevas Mateo, 45, and Alfonso Calzado Coca, 35, who had in their combined possession over 6 kilos of cocaine, said Mateo Moquete.