Public Prosecutor’s Office arrests leader of gang involved in contract killings, kidnapping, and arms trafficking
The Public Prosecutor’s Office arrested a man on Friday afternoon who was being pursued after being identified as the leader of a network linked to various criminal acts, including cases of contract killings, arms trafficking, kidnappings, and extortion.
Juan Francisco Quezada Tolentino (Pavel), 27 years old, who was actively being sought, was arrested while he was in a shopping plaza in the National District.
Prosecutor Andry De Los Santos, director of the Fugitive, Rebel and Convict Capture Unit (Ucaprec), executed two arrest warrants against the accused, along with personnel from that branch of the Public Ministry.
The accused Quezada Tolentino was arrested when arrest warrants numbers 2026-AJ0020297 and 2026-AJ0038079 were executed and issued at the request of the Public Ministry by Magistrate Rigoberto Sena Ferreras, head judge of the Eighth Court of Instruction of the National District.
According to what has been established during the investigations, Quezada Tolentino, along with other members of the network who are being pursued, used extreme violence against the victims of the aforementioned criminal acts.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has established that one of the events for which he was being pursued occurred on May 10, 2026, at approximately 12:16, in the La Esperanza sector of Los Ríos, National District, where they intercepted several people and, without saying a word, began to fire multiple shots at them with the evident intention of taking their lives.
According to one person, most of the attackers were hooded when they committed the crime.
Similarly, another crime was committed against the now deceased Luis Alberto Méndez de la Cruz (Nano), while the victim was inside a residence on República de Colombia Avenue, in the same La Esperanza neighborhood, in the Los Ríos sector of the National District, where he was visiting a friend. The incident occurred on March 5, 2026, at approximately 7:00 p.m.
The members of the network arrived armed at the scene, and, without saying a word, shot Alberto Méndez, who died from gunshot wounds to the chest.
The investigations are carried out by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the National District, through the Department of Crimes and Offenses Against Persons.
The group led by Quezada Tolentino is being investigated for criminal acts committed in violation of articles 265, 266, 309, 295, 296, and 304 of the Dominican Penal Code, and articles 66, 67, and 70 of Law No. 631-16 on Weapons, Ammunition and Related Materials.
The accused was transferred to the Ciudad Nueva Detention and Care Center (Caplip-2) to proceed in the next few hours with his submission to justice and to hear the imposition of a coercive measure in the Judicial Office of Permanent Attention Services of the National District.
