U.S. would change extradition treaty with Dominican Republic, official

Santo Domingo.- Washington has stated its interest to change its extradition treaty in effect with the Dominican Republic since 1909, said Justice Ministry Extradition Unit director Gisela Cueto on Monday.

She said U.S. Government officials have suggested the need to revise the pact, including points relating to the trial and the distribution of the seized assets, especially in organized crime and drug trafficking cases. "Talk on renegotiating the extradition treaty has begun at the United States’ behest, even at this late stage."

Several prominent Dominican government officials, including Presidency Antinarcotics adviser Marino V. Castillo, have slammed Washington for in their view the soft sentences handed down against drug traffickers who’ve been extradited to the U.S., who then return to the country demanding the return of seized assets.

Cueto’s statements come in the aftermath of the announced and imminent release in New York of Dominican drug trafficker Quirino Paulino, who could return and request the return of all the assets seized locally in the wake of his 2004 arrest on charges of trafficking 1,387 kilos of cocaine.