Dominican Republic kingpins wage bloody turf war from behind bars

Santo Domingo.- The authorities managed to uncover the wide network of killers for hire used by drug traffickers based in the east thanks to taped phone calls where they coordinated several attacks.

The group dismantled last Saturday, whose leader is allegedly Jesus Pascual Cabrera Ruiz, had on its imminent hit list Salomon Eusebio Rosario, (Piki), allegedly the main contract killer for rival kingpin Winston Risik Rodríguez (El Gallero).

Rosario (El Piki) is accused of murderiing Juan Felix Cordero Febles (Copelín), Edgar Rafael Rijo Astacio (El Maestrico), Abraham de los Santos Rodríguez and police sergeant, Luis Méndez Sepúlveda, whose corpses were found in a cane plantation near San Cristóbal (south) in 2013.

According to the indictment, of the five linked to that network, Cabrera made frequent phone calls to Juan Angel Peña Taveras (El Gordo), who allegedly financed and coordinated the contract killings and drug trafficking operations.

Peña communicated continuously with the also indicted Víctor Alfonso Fernández (Vitico) and Kerlyn Smile Hernández Guerrero, to coordinate the recruitment of assassins and make payments, in addition to make contacts after the attack, using a code.

According to the taped phone calls, Fernández (Vitico), was in the workplace of the wife of murder victim Randy Mario Manzanillo, who belonged to Rizik’s ring.

Miladys Cristal García Rodríguez, Peña’s paramour and partner owned the exchange house “Rodtaver, SRL,” that was used to launder money from drug trafficking.

The criminal group through the shell company Rodtaver Inversiones transferred money from the Dominican Republic to Venezuela and Colombia, using banks and identity cards of other people.

Moreover, the Office of the Prosecutor links Miguel Ángel García Rodríguez, brother of Garcia, who on Peña’s instructions, paid the money to people who were working for the organization.