Head of “Cibao Cartel” drug network faces extradition to the U.S.

SANTO DOMINGO.- An ex New York City policeman and alleged local head of the “Cibao Cartel” faces extradition to the United States on charges of drug trafficking and armed robbery, among others, the National Drugs Control Agency (DNCD) revealed Thursday.

It said the extraditable Iván Miguel Tineo, AKA Miguel Benedicto Goris is being held in Najayo Prison since March 2011 on possession of 157 packages of cocaine found aboard the boat `Capricho,’ moored at Samaná Port.

Also charged but still on the loose in the case are Nadim Pguero Bezi and Alfredo Meregildo Henríquez, among others.

Dominican authorities also seized from Tineo a cache of guns, military garb and insignias of and forged documents to impersonate senior Antinarcotics Police officers, under the name Miguel B. Goris.

In a statement DNCD spokesman Roberto Lebrón said the policeman’s drug trafficking network was dismantled March 2011, and is charged in the U.S. with "criminal conspiracy to commit assaults, according to the Hobbs Law."

The DNCD said Tineo will be held in the Agency’s compound until the Supreme Court hands down a ruling on the extradition request submitted by U.S. authorities, who affirm that the defendant is also wanted in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Georgia, among other jurisdictions. "This individual, together with other accomplices, conspired to assault drug dealers in New York and other states."