The Ministry of Defense and the Dominican Air Force have remained silent concerning the dismissal of a general and six colonels linked to arms and drug trafficking.
When pressured by journalists about the dismissals, the Air Force Public Relations Officer, Colonel Fernando Hernandez, referred reporters’ questions to the Ministry of Defense saying that as it was the Ministry of Defense that carried out the investigation. However, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense also refused to comment on the subject.
Both officers were being questioned by reporters about the dismissal of Bienvenido Cordero Batista and six Army and Air Force Colonels, as recommended by the Ministry of Defense. Also dismissed were Colonel Andres Francisco Reyes Ortiz, who was accused together with his son, ex Private Andres Reyes Vargas, and others of having received a shipment of 338 kilograms of cocaine in Barahona.
The group was arrested during an operation launched by the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Barahona.
Others dismissed were Lieutenant Colonels Cesar David Ruiz Garcia, Mario Antonio Jimenez Jimenez and Moises Emmanuel Rojas Perez, son of the former Minister of the Armed Forces, Juan Bautista Rojas Tabar.
Also dismissed was Lieutenant Colonel Julia Ines Paulina Santos, accused of receiving a bribe of more than RD$200,000 and US$8,000 as well as Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Cuevas Gonzalez, who was in charge of an Intelligence Unit at the Ministry of Defense and was linked to a drug shipment.
According to military sources, another 20 Army and Air Force Officials have been recommended for dismissal and their names will be sent this week to the Executive Branch for consideration. Apparently these Armed Forces officials have also been linked to drug and arms traffic.