U.S. deports Dominican charged in gangland murders

Santo Domingo.- The Dominican Hector Vargas Valerio "Figura" was apprehended in the U.S. and repatriated to the country today to face charges in connection with an gang of hired killers, who in 2011 allegedly murdered three Colombians, a Spaniard and a Dominican, in Santiago.

Police said Vargas arrived in the country at noon on a flight escorted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at the Las Americas International Airport.

Police chief Jose A. Polanco said Vargas, along with another man identified as Julio C. Cespedes Martinez "El Indio," had ordered the killing of the foreigners.

He said around eight people were arrested in connection with the murders at the time and are being held pending trial, adding that investigators determined that the foreigners were killed as part of a drug shakedown planned by Vargas and "El Indio.”