Fired prosecutors and cops ‘vanished’ 950Ks of cocaine

Santo Domingo.- The Prosecutor on Friday requested thetransfer to an ordinary court, the case in which 950 kilos of cocaine went missingafter raids by National Police Central Narcotics Div. (DICAN) in Santo DomingoEast, which included senior officers and two former assistant DAs

The assistant DA Ramón Augusto Veras Castro and MáximoAntonio Díaz Ogando, who had been in charge of the prosecution, have since beensuspended for their alleged involvement in the drug’s disappearance, for whichlead prosecutor Jeremia Novas told the Santo Domingo province 2nd Courtof Appeals that it had no jurisdiction.

"The judge ruled what it wasn’t a matter of drugsbecause no drugs were really taken… obviously a lot of time has passed duringthe investigation phase and the information that we had on the case itself. Itwould be good to ask them where they are" he said, in reference to the vanishedcocaine.

The case will now be heard in an ordinary court in SantoDomingo Province.

The charges against the 10 defendants, former DICAN directorCol. Carlos Fernandez Valerio among them, include conspiracy, money launderingand of forging the record of the raid at a condo in the Isabelita sector.

Novas said instruction judge Wendy Martinez Mejia dismissedthe charges of drug trafficking and possession.

As defendants in the case also figure former Lt. Col. FelixHumberto Paulino, former Maj. Luciano Gómez, former 1st Lt. BarbaroTorres, former Sgt. Pedro JoséAlmánzar, former Corp. Agapito Muñoz, former Sgt. Antolin de los Santos, formerprivate Raydiris Lironely García and civilians Cecilia Castillo and MiguelOgando.