He Public Prosecutor’s Office accused the councilor Walky Cuevas Charles of being part of a drug trafficking and money laundering network led by Yunior Santos Restrepor, who was arrested on September 21, 2023.
The prosecuting body classified the case of the party’s councilor Social Democratic Institutional Bloc (BIS) for his alleged participation in the criminal group, as defined in article 4, letters E, 5-A, 6-A, 7, paragraph II and 85, letters a, b and c of the Law 50-88 on Drugs and Controlled Substanceswhich classifies and punishes them as traffickers.
In addition, he is charged under Article 2, paragraph 26; Article 3, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3; Article 4, paragraphs 7 and 9; and Article 9, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Law 155-17, which defines and punishes money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
Between 10 to 20 years in prison
Law 155-17
Article 3 of the Law 155-17 on Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism establishes severe penalties for those who participate in money laundering. In particular, it is punishable by imprisonment 10 to 20 years in prisonfines of 200 to 400 minimum wages and disqualification from holding positions in financial and public entities for those who convert, transfer, conceal, or manage assets derived from crimes.
Article 2 of the aforementioned law adds that anyone who conceals or dissimulates assets knowing that they come from crimes will face sentences of ten to twenty years in prison, fines of two hundred to four hundred minimum wages, confiscation of the illicit assets and a temporary disqualification of ten years from working in financial and public entities.
Section 3 specifies that anyone who acquires or uses goods knowing that they come from crimes will face sentences of ten to twenty years in prison, fines of two hundred to four hundred minimum wages, confiscation of the goods and a temporary disqualification of ten years from working in financial and public entities.
In article 4 on criminal offenses associated with money laundering, numeral 7, it is established that the person who falsely claims to have the right, either personally, on behalf of or on behalf of a third party, over an asset derived from money laundering with the objective of preventing its seizure or confiscation, will be sanctioned with a fine. prison sentence of three to five yearsa fine of one hundred to two hundred minimum wages, and confiscation of the assets claimed as one’s own.
Section 9 establishes that anyone who lends his or her name to acquire assets for serious offences will be punished with three to six years in prison, a fine of one hundred to two hundred minimum wages and the confiscation of the illicit assets.
Arrest warrant was issued in January
The court order for the councilor’s arrest Walky Cuevas Charlesaccused of belonging to a drug trafficking network with operations center in the province of San Pedro de Macorís, was issued on January 31 of this year.
He Public Prosecutor’s Office reported in his accusatory document that the arrest of Cuevas Charles, carried out last Wednesday, September 3, was carried out under the order number 341-2024-TAUT00006. However, authorities do not specify why he was not arrested at that time.
The prosecution requested the court to impose eight months of preventive detention for the councillor and for Pamela Violeta Astacio, alias “Melvin Gato”, also linked to the network, as well as to declare the process complex.
According to authorities, the arrest of Cuevas Charles and Astacio is part of the continuation of a joint investigation conducted by the Public Prosecutor’s Officethe National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the United States.
In a first phase of the investigation, he was arrested Yunior Santos Restrepo and several of his accomplices, who allegedly introduce large quantities of drugs and controlled substances through the coasts of San Pedro de Macorís and Barahona, to then send them to the United States and Europe.
Both defendants used the profits obtained from said illegal activity, under the orders of Santos Restrepo, who is in preventive detention and who was presented by the prosecuting body accusation formally on April 16, to acquire luxurious and expensive movable and immovable property, as well as to establish businesses that would allow them to give an appearance of legality to the profits obtained illegally.
The hearing on coercive measures against the last two defendants will be held on Thursday, September 12.
