Agency says it arrested ex Navy officer in 1,860K cocaine haul

Santo Domingo.- The National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) on Friday announced the arrest of ex Navy lieutenant (captain) Jose Arias Cornelio, after agents chased him together with four others suspected of scuttling a boat with 1,539 bales of cocaine seized Wednesday night at Palmar de Ocoa bay, Azua province(south).

"He’s in prison, he’s not on the loose, he’s being held here at DNCD headquarters with the team which would’ve picked up that drug on the beach. Here we have all the elements that were the Dominican counterpart and which were at the beach to collect these items," said DNCD president Rolando Rosado.

He said general Valentin Rosado headed the operation on the beach, with the use of two Navy boats, a U.S. Coast Guard plane and a DNCD helicopter.

"We were unable to chase the boat because it had 600 horsepower and we weren’t interested it catching it at sea, because what we wanted was to catch them receiving the drug, but they fled the pursuit started with a DNCD plane and a Navy boat, " the DCND president said.