Saint Dominic. The investigations against supervisory agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Meliton Corderoaccused of visa fraud and briberycould hinder drug trafficking investigations in which he would have participated.
For this reason, the United States Government asked a federal court in the District of Columbia to keep under seal the criminal complaint and documents related to the former head of the DEA office in the Dominican Republic.
The petition was filed in the Federal Court of the District of Columbia by the United States Attorney’s Office, headed by Jeanine F. Pirro, who requested that the complaint, the affidavit supporting it and other materials in the file remain confidential until further court order.
Reaction of the Bar Association
The president of the Bar Association of the Dominican Republic (CARD), Trajano Vidal Potentini, stated that the case transcends the alleged handling of 10 thousand dollars and is framed in a broader context linked to drug trafficking and national security investigations.
“The issue is not 10 thousand dollars. That is what is proven through monitoring and undercover work to be able to process it with concrete evidence,” said the jurist during an interview on the Panorama de los Sábados program, broadcast by Panorama FM.
Vidal Potentini maintained that the request to keep the file under seal could be related to the need to prevent other ongoing drug trafficking cases from being affected.
Likewise, he explained that in this scenario the “poisoned tree” theory could be applied, a legal doctrine that establishes that evidence obtained illegally can invalidate the rest of the criminal process.
“Fraud corrupts everything. You cannot put a number of cases at risk due to an illegality that can be taken advantage of by the defenses,” he indicated.
The president of CARD considered that part of the information could remain classified because it deals with matters that compromise open processes and elements of national security.
Visa fraud and bribery charges
According to the criminal complaint, released last Wednesday, Cordero, who worked for the last five years from the United States Embassy in Santo Domingo, He would have used his position to promote visa applications under the argument that the applicants were valuable sources for the authoritieseven without knowing them personally.
According to the investigation, the agent submitted or approved nearly 120 visa references during his stay in the country, a number considered unusually high by consular officials who collaborated with investigators.
US authorities used an undercover agent who allegedly delivered $10,000 in cash to Cordero, posing as someone interested in obtaining a US visa. An artistic businessman, whose name has not been revealed, participated as an intermediary in the operation.
According to the accusatory file, of which the newspaper EL DÍA obtained a copy, three thousand dollars were initially transferred and the remaining seven thousand were delivered in cash at the time of receiving the passport. The final payment would have been made in the Supermix parking lot, on República de Colombia Avenue, near the diplomatic headquarters.
The investigation was developed by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and included recordings in which Cordero is observed leaving the embassy building and later meeting with the undercover agent in the parking lot, where he would have received the money.
Melitón Cordero was released on bail days after his arrest, although the authorities keep the investigation against him open.
