Drug traffickers’ taste for pricey cars and villas often lands them in jail

Santo Domingo.- Their taste for luxury cars, pricey watches and upscale real estate often leads to some drug traffickers’ arrest and extradition, after using Dominican Republic as a bridge to ship narcotics to other nations.

The authorities are poised to seize properties confiscated from several of those drug traffickers valued at around RD$200 million, to be auctioned in public once convicted,.

Their tastes aren’t just for stunning women. They also flaunt the latest exotic vehicles, posh apartments, villas, farms, fine beverages and watches that fetch more than RD$1.0 million.

The authorities will soon put nine apartments, two lots, two houses, a residence, five parcels of land, 11 vehicles and a watch on the auction block, once owned by Puerto Rican kingpin Jose Figueroa Agosto (also known as Cristian Almonte and Junior Capsula and Manuel Emilio Mesa Beltre (El Gringo).

His taste for an expensive Colibri helicopter was one of the indications that led to the bust of former Army captain Quirino Paulino (El Don).

Among other properties confiscated figure the Peravinter and Zapata Morlet cases.