U.S. deals with kingpins ‘hurt the country’s war on drugs’

Santo Domingo.- Justice minister Francisco Dominguez on Thursday said the way the United States has handled cases against kingpins has hobbled Dominican Republic’s war on drug trafficking

He cited the case against Puerto Rican kingpin Jose Figueroa Agosto as proof, because despite revelations in plea bargaining by his paramour Sobeida Felix, no major arrests have occurred.

He also noted the extradition to the U.S. of former admiral Francisco Hiraldo Guerrero, who was head of operations of the National Drugs Control Agency, a case which no other detentions have taken place despite its reach into the military echelon.

Dominguez also blamed the apparent rampant impunity on the judicial system’s weaknesses, including bribes by drug traffickers. “Some judges and prosecutors accept bribes.”

Much complicity

The official also admitted “much complicity” in Figueroa’s case, mostly handled by the U.S., which for being a modern nation; its judicial structure is advanced.

“There’s much complicity and the judicial system of modern countries such as the United States jeopardizes small countries such as us, because they go after the masterminds and leave their lieutenants untouched,” Dominguez said, interviewed by Huchi Lora on Telesistema Channel 11,