Antinarcotics rejects Senator’s charge, reveals major drug bust

Santo Domingo.- Dominican Republic’s Antinarcotics Agency (DNCD) on Thursday rejected senator Wilton Guerrero’s charge that it let 300 kilos of cocaine slip into the country, but revealed that it was in fact 777.63 kilos involved in the operation.

DNCD spokesman Roberto Lebron, who called the concerns of the lawmaker from Peravia province positive, noted that that amount of drug was inappropriate for the type of boat was used

"There were 756 packages whose definitive weight reached 777.63 kilos to be analyzed at Forensics," Lebron said.

He said of the operation on August 23 were the U.S. Coast Guard reported spotting an unidentified speedboat whose destination was unknown bound for the coast of Barahona (southwest).

He said a U.S. Coast Guard plane pursued it while the Dominican Navy deployed a patrol boat to intercept it, and the Dominican Air Force scrambled a Super Tucano aircraft, all under the DNCD’s coordination.

Lebron noted however that because of the high seas and strong wind unleashed by Tropical Storm Isaac, the chase was called off, but part of the drug was seized just five days later, at the Port of Caucedo, as it was about to be shipped to Holland.

He added that the bust resulted from agents spotting a suspicious SUV in the village of Los Jobos, near Baní, where the DNCD determined the drug was disembarked, which led to the haul at Caucedo.