Colonel caught smuggling gets retirement, not jail

Santo Domingo.- Defense minister Sigfrido Pared on Tuesday said 12 military officers have been drummed out of the armed forces thus far, and a Lt. Col., placed on retirement for alleged smuggling.

Although Pared didn’t reveal the senior officer’s name or those of the others, Army chief of staff Ruben Paulino said the colonel was caught marketing 13 sacks of contraband garlic in Santiago.

Pared said 19 members of the military were recently arrested and charged with trafficking with people through the border crossing at Dajabon, many of them repeat offenders.

He added that smuggling has dropped considerably as a result of constant operations by the Dominican military Border Guard.