The Permanent Attention Office of the National District postponed until Friday the 27th of this month the hearing of the coercive measure requested by the Public Ministry against the members of the international drug trafficking network dismantled last Tuesday through the Operation “NK Buffalo” in which the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the National Directorate of Drug Control participated (DNCD), the Ministry of Defense, state intelligence agencies, the DEA and the United States Southern Command.
The postponement was requested by the lawyers of the accused who asked for time to study the case and present budgets.
Prosecutor Miguel Collado said that the Public Prosecutor’s Office has conclusive evidence, such as a sentence handed down against a person in Colombia who collaborated with the criminal gang.
The accused are Rafael Inoa Santana (the Lame), Isidoro Rotestan Clase (the Men), Juan Bolivar Hernandez (Moreno), Germania Mercedes Natali Roman (Nati), Cristian Esteban Alcantara Javier, Robert Nicolas Acosta Adames, Severiano Nunez Pichardo (Alex), Juan Henriquez Tavarez (Orlando), Jorge Antonio Toribio (the Teacher) and Maritza Flete Santana (Karilis).
The coercive measure was issued at 11 pm on Thursday, after the Public Prosecutor’s Office chose the National District as the main jurisdiction to hear the case, given that the raids and arrests took place in the provinces of Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata, María Trinidad Sánchez, La Romana and Samaná. The group was arrested through simultaneous operations carried out by air, sea and land.
You can read: MP will request preventive detention against drug traffickers from Operation Buffalo NK
More than 400 personnel, including maritime, air and land units, were involved, coordinated by 47 prosecutors, who executed 37 search warrants simultaneously to capture the accused.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, approximately two tons of cocaine were seized from this network in Dominican territory, and it is believed that it moved other large shipments of drugs from South America (Republic of Colombia and Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) to Puerto Rico, the United States and Europe via the Dominican Republic, through speedboats and fishing boats.
Once the substances entered Dominican territory and Puerto Rican soil, logistics were carried out to send them to the United States and Europe, where, on occasions, their value was tripled, generating exorbitant illicit profits for the members of the structure.
Authorities say that an investigation into this criminal network, which is also dedicated to contract killings, has been underway for several months.
A note
The file
The request for coercive measures indicates that Rafael Inoa Santana (El Cojo), the main defendant, is an experienced Dominican drug trafficker who was deported from the United States in 2016 for having served a 151-month prison sentence for drugs.
