The Specialized Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prosecutor’s Office, in coordination with the María Trinidad Sánchez Prosecutor’s Office, requested the imposition of coercive measures, including preventive detention, against six members of an international criminal network involved in drug trafficking, arms trafficking and money laundering, dismantled in Operation Arrecife 2.0.
The prosecution body will request the declaration of the case as complex, given the magnitude of the network and the nature of the crimes, and will request coercive measures consisting of preventive detention for the main parties involved, along with financial guarantees and periodic presentations for other linked parties.
The knowledge of the coercive measure is scheduled for this Monday, October 7, 2024, in the Judicial Office of the Permanent Attention Services of the Judicial District of María Trinidad Sánchez.
The defendants Ángel María Polanco Tavarez, Luis Arístides Alcequiez, Ana Victoria Duarte Trinidad de Alcequiez, Alanna Familia, Ana María Peña Meléndez and Wilmer Manuel Polanco Caridad were arrested in simultaneous raids carried out on October 4 in various locations in the country, including María Trinidad Sánchez, Samaná, Montecristi, Santo Domingo East and West, and the National District.
You can read: Authorities carry out 18 simultaneous raids during Operation Reef 2.0
During these operations, the authorities seized more than 2 million pesos in cash, 11 high-end vehicles, including Toyota Hilux, Lexus and Mercedes Benz models, as well as six firearms, including pistols and shotguns, in addition to war ammunition, strengthening the case against the organization.
Among the confiscated weapons, a Daewoo pistol, model DP51, stands out, which is registered in the name of Cristian Antonio Dicent Polanco, who faces a murder trial and is wanted by INTERPOL.
The investigation has also identified Joel Antonio Estévez Batista, a renowned fugitive drug trafficker, previously sentenced to 30 years in prison for international drug trafficking.
The criminal structure, operational since 2015, has been involved in various illicit activities typical of organized crime, including money laundering. Several of its members have already been convicted in the past, which demonstrates their high level of operation and the magnitude of their criminal activities.
You can read: They impose preventive detention on members of a criminal network dismantled with Operation Arrecife
Operation Arrecife 2.0 mobilized more than 350 agents from the National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD), along with a technical team from the Public Ministry, to carry out simultaneous raids by air, sea and land. During this judicial action, properties linked to the organization were seized, such as apartments, nightclubs, warehouses and farms.
The case is linked to the discovery in February 2023 of 243 packages of cocaine in a villa located on the Río San Juan-Cabrera highway, where Javier de Jesús de Oleo was arrested in flagrante delicto, along with other individuals who are already carrying out coercive measures. , like Omar Ortiz Mosquea and Eduardo Antonio Martínez Adames, alias “Pluma.”
Attorney Ramona Nova Cabrera, head of the Specialized Anti-Money Laundering Prosecutor’s Office, and Juan Mateo Ciprián, chief prosecutor of María Trinidad Sánchez, stated that this second phase of Operation Arrecife 2.0 has been a resounding blow for the organization, not only at the level locally, but also in sectors of the National District such as Villa María, where six firearms were seized.
