Operation Iguana leads to sentencing of criminal network for migrant trafficking

Independencia, DR.- The Public Prosecutor’s Office successfully secured prison sentences for key members of a criminal network dismantled during Operation Iguana, targeting aggravated migrant trafficking. The Jimaní Collegiate Court sentenced Roberto Méndez Pérez and Johan Rosario Castillo to 10 years in prison, while Delson Manuel Medina Díaz, Juan Mateo Feliciano, and Quelinton Eduardo Volquez Guzmán received 15-year sentences. Each was also fined the equivalent of 150 minimum wages. However, Deivi Novas Reyes and Dominga Guzmán were acquitted.

Operation Iguana, conducted in 2022 under the leadership of Attorney General Yoanna Bejarán Álvarez, dismantled the network through raids in Independencia, Bahoruco, and Pedernales, focusing on the Dominican-Haitian border.

The operation seized vehicles, foreign passports, cash, documents, and a firearm. Investigations revealed the group was involved in kidnapping and holding Cuban women and girls captive, demanding ransom through threats and blackmail. The defendants were charged with violating several laws, including those on migrant trafficking, human trafficking, high-tech crimes, weapons regulation, and child protection. The Public Prosecutor’s Office emphasized the importance of punishing such crimes, which disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, especially women and children.