The National Directorate of Drug Control (DNCD) has carried out various operations during the first eight months of 2024, which have resulted in the detention of at least 20,000 people, mostly DominicansOf this number, it is unknown how many have been brought to justice.
Among those arrested are individuals linked to micro and macro drug trafficking. drugspeople requested for extradition, with arrest warrants, and others captured through raids and in flagrante delicto, among other actions.
Of those arrested, more than 50 have been extradited and deported. Currently in extradition process there are 10 people.
The agency says these arrests reflect the efforts of organizations that work together with them to combat the drug trafficking and the racketeering in the Dominican Republic. However, the entity has been reserved regarding the disclosure of the names of those arrestedsince they go directly to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Despite the little information about the alleged perpetrators, Free Newspaper managed to gain access to some of these names, confirming that many of the individuals were caught red-handed, in possession of drugs or other elements related to these illegal activities.
Some of the detainees
Recently, the authorities They seized a ton of cocaine off the coast of La Altagracia province. During this operation, which involved air, sea and land units, 1,000 people were arrested Wander Guerrero, Wilkin Antonio Brito, Gary Alexander Brito and Maikel Calderon Ramirez.
According to the report, the detainees were allegedly traveling aboard a boat and, in addition to the drugsan AR-15 caliber rifle, a satellite phone, fuel, among other alleged evidence were confiscated from them.
On August 13th, Cesar Vicente Arias Cordero and Eladio Martinez de Jesus They were arrested with a cargo of 484 packages of cocaineoff the coast of La Altagracia province, during an operation by air, sea and land that took approximately 15 hours.
They were also arrested on August 11 Carlos Antonio Feliz Sanchez and Ruben Martin Villalobos Chamorro (Venezuelan), who were supposedly transporting 400 packages with cocaine and dope off the coast of Peravia province.
The authorities They stressed that these detainees use a modus operandi which consists of evading air, sea and land controls to introduce significant quantities of drugs from South America to the country using speedboats.
The DNCD involves Jose Luis Feliz Ramirez, Carlos Alberto Durizo Rodriguez (Colombian), Moreta Serum and Ramon David Carbajal Santana in a cargo of 532 packages of alleged cocaine and another 11 of dopeintercepted off the coast of Peravia province on August 1.
The accused are presumed to have been engaged in introducing large shipments of drugs to the country in speedboats from South America.
The authorities On July 24, anti-narcotics officers arrested a 30-year-old Italian in the International airport from Punta Cana, La Altagracia province, upon detecting bags of controlled substances in his stomach.
According to the report, Kelvin Okpamen He was detained in the immigration area and, after being subjected to the required protocol, “foreign bodies” were detected in his digestive tract. Following instructions from the acting prosecutor, he was transferred to the Hospital Nuestra Señora de La Altagracia, where he expelled 33 bags of the substance.
During the process, Okpamen presented symptoms that alerted the doctors, who proceeded to perform surgery, removing another 71 bags from his stomach, for a total of 104, weighing more than a kilogram.
Fabricio Marte Castillo and Fausto Mars Quezada They were arrested on July 18 during several raids in the province of La Vega, allegedly linked to the seizure of 387.51 kilograms of cocainecamouflaged in tanks loaded with Honey at the Caucedo Multimodal Port.
The drug It was in export containers, which they claim would be shipped to Belgium from the terminal.
On the coast of Villa Sombrero, Peravia province, DNCD agents arrested Venezuelans Diego Delgado Villalobos, Gelvis Gregorio Rodríguez and Ender Antonio Villasmil, who were transporting 134 packages of cocaine aboard a speed-boat while trying to introduce the drug to the country.
According to the entity, upon realizing the authoritiesthey began to launch the drug into the water.
On July 6, agents arrested Jean Carlos Lugo, Randy Alejandro Corporan and Herman Reynoso Ibarra (Colombian) during an operation lasting more than 15 hours, in which they confiscated a cargo of 316 packages of alleged cocaine off the coast of the municipality of Baní, in the province of Peravia.
The German was also captured in February Frankfurt during the seizure of 36 packages of cocaine in it International airport from Punta Cana.
Drug seized so far this year
From the January 1st to August 30th This year, the authorities have been seized of 22,164 kilograms (22.1 tons) of various drugsthe majority being cocaine and dope. In addition, with the cooperation internationalhave seized 27,336 kilograms (27.3 tons) additional.
Adding both amounts, the authorities Anti-narcotics forces confiscated 49.5 tons of different drugs.
The DNCD has revealed in its reports new ingenious methods used by criminals in the wrappers of these substances, which have been classified by the entity as new modalities of drug trafficking national and international.
The narcotics have been camouflaged in flannelstanks full of Honeycardboard sheets, mask pots and shampoosun protection sleeve cases, road roller rollers, heavy machinery, shipments of courier and tomato sauce packets.
In addition, they have been found in false bottom of boxes of tobaccovideo cards, vehicle parts, women’s girdles, elevator counterweights, disposable diapers, bags as a gift, pylons and wall clocks, among other items.
The largest seizure of this period occurred on Friday, August 23, when agents seized a container from Colombia at the Caucedo Multimodal Port, in the Boca Chica municipality, Santo Domingo province, containing 317 cardboard boxes loaded with lemons.
The cargo, whose final destination was Hamburg, Germany, weighed 1,639 kilograms (1.6 tons) of cocaine, according to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif). In addition to being the largest so far in 2024, this seizure has been the largest recorded in the history of the terminal.
