RD$47M seized at Santiago ‘club’ with Venezuelan, Colombian women

Santiago.- The Santiago Office of the Prosecutor on Friday chargeda group of alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers with money laundering, after agentsseized a total RD$47 million in dollars and pesos in a raid at the strip clubCasa Blanca.

Permanent Attention judge Ingrid Liberato ruled 18 monthsof pretrial detention against three of the five drug trafficking defendants andissued arrest warrants for Juan Fernandez, Grismelda Acarilis Merejo andVenezuelan Jolvert Jose Ramirez, while for Magdalena and Jairo Batista set bondat RS$2.0 million each.

The agents raided the club located on the Santiago-Liceyroad Thursday night, and found 40 Venezuelan and 5 Colombian women, promptingthe Justice Ministry to contact authorities of those countries to launch aninvestigation, to determine if there’s a network involved in the case.

Santiago prosecutor Luisa Liranzo said the raid resultedfrom an investigation over more than six months to identify who recruited,transferred and retained the women to profit from prostitution.