Even when he is in jail in New York City, Quirino Paulino Castillo and the case of 1,387 kilograms of cocaine are still making news. On Saturday, the Listin Diario reported that the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had captured Quirino Paulino’s boss. The man was identified as Luis Eduardo Rodriguez Cordero, a.k.a.” El Principe”, a.k.a. “Eduardito”, a native of San Juan de la Maguana and a well known merchant in that southwestern city. The DEA also arrested Bladimir (sic) Andres Garcia Jimenez, a 38 year old from Nagua. Both men have been tied to the case involving over a ton of cocaine being moved about the Dominican Republic.
Investigators said that Luis Eduardo Rodriguez had more “political and military influence” than was attributed to Quirino Paulino Castillo. Rodriguez Cordero was picked up in a New York billiards parlor.
He also goes under the name of “Jorge Rosado Gonzalez”, and, according to sources, if the arrest had been made in Santo Domingo there would have been even more problems than faced with Paulino Castillo in his extradition process, presumably because of the even greater influence enjoyed by “Eduardito.”
The sources also affirmed that the DEA was following the steps of Luis Eduardo Rodriguez for more than two years, possibly, even before Quirino entered the picture. Last 7 January, Rodriguez Cordero, a U.S. Resident Alien, left the Dominican Republic for New York City.
Eduardito was the owner of several properties in San Juan de la Maguana, nestled in the central valley of the Cordillera Central, and had just sold his motel to another resident of the town. He was involved in mortgage loans and had financial dealing in Santo Domingo.
Shortly after the arrest of Quirino Paulino Castillo in December, “Eduardito” told a friend he feared that he could be troubled by the National Drug Control Department (DNCD) or by the DEA.
In Sunday’s Listin Diario, it was reported that Eduardito had an Army major as his personal driver, and it was revealed that in 1987 he had been tried for a case involving 300 kilograms of cocaine seized from Nixon Alcantara. Neighbors of his vacation home in Hato del Padre near San Juan de la Maguana told reporters that they had seen the army officer driving Eduardito’s automobile. The same people said that ever since 1994 military and Police officers had been seen visiting the house. The Minister of the Armed Forces, admiral Sigfrido Pared Perez, announced that his ministry would be looking into any ties between the military and the newly arrested Luis Eduardo Rodriguez Cordero.