More charges await U.S. drug trafficking convicts in Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo.- The head of the Justice Ministry’s Money Laundering Dept. revealed Wednesday that money laundering and drug trafficking charges await Ernesto Bienvenido Guevara Díaz (Maconi) return to the Dominican Republic, once he’s released in Puerto Rico.

Germán Miranda Villalona’s statement comes just hours after the lawyer for the money-laundering convict, Virgilio de León, revealed that his client pleaded guilty in Puerto Rico and sentenced to 78 months in prison.

"History repeats itself and others will come in that manner, because there’s already a weakness in the requesting country’s (U.S.) criminal policy," the official said.

Miranda said both Guevara and Ramón Antonio del Rosario Puente (Toño Leña), or any extraditable will be indicted for money laundering.

He said through proxies, Guevara owns more than 24 properties across the country, mostly in the south. “These properties are all inventoried."

Miranda said the extradition treaty between Dominican Republic and the U.S. should be amended. “American authorities interpret it (the treaty) with a restrictive criterion. We would like to see it given a wider scope to deal with today’s organized crime."