Drug dealers offer "pennies" to police to watch over drugs
The most are arrested in first attempt and never collect the promised money
Diario Libre
SANTO DOMINGO. Gangs of local and international drug traffickers offer "pennies" to active police and military personnel for taking care of drug shipments that will be sent overseas.
Nevertheless, these men regularly are never paid what was agreed to because they are arrested on their first attempts.
The sums that they are offered vary from RD$20,000 up to RD$300,000 and they always agree to do it "just this once."
Of this group, the one that most benefitted was probably the colonel in the National Police, Jose Amado Gonzalez Gonzalez, until he was gunned down by alleged hit men who worked for the drug trafficker Jose David Figueroa Agosto.
Gonzalez Gonzalez was shot several times and killed during the evening of 24 December 2009 in the parking lot of the building where he lived on the Enriquillo Avenue.
The dead colonel was said to have millions in assets in luxurious villas in tourist areas.
Two of the most recent cases are that of the lieutenant colonel Francisco Jose Espinal Muñoz, who was caught by the Army's Intelligence Service on Thursday of last week with 409 pounds of marijuana down near Neyba.
A source revealed that colonel Espinal Muñoz was to have received the sum of RD$200,000 for transporting the drugs, "but he was caught and the money was never paid."
The high ranking officer belonged to the Dominican Air Force, but he did not have any posting and on one occasion he had worked in the National Directorate for Drug Control (DNCD).
The other recent case is that of the Navy second lieutenant Sandy de Leon Melendez, who was arrested by DNCD officers and accused of being a member of a gang that tried to take 807.4 kilos of cocaine out of the country.
Sandy de Leon is supposed to have told the investigators that his role was to try and divert the attention of the anti-drug agents on duty at the Caucedo Multi-Modal Port, and for his work he was supposed to receive RD$400.000 in cash once the drugs reached their destination.
Another recent case is that of the Police lieutenant, Severino Brazoban Guzman and the enlisted man William Gonzlaez Vargas, who are both accused of belonging to a gang that brought cocaine into the La Victoria Prison for sale among the inmates of the penal facility.
Likewise, the recent past reveals cases involving high ranking Police officers such as the drug commanders of Santiago and San Pedro de Macoris.
It will be recalled that at the end of the month of September 2010, the chief of the Anti-Narcotics Division of the National Police in the Cibao, Colonel Franklin Raul Peralta Gonalez, was arrested and accused of "knocking off" local drug traffickers.
The deal supposedly went down at a gasoline station in Licey al Medio. Together with the officer, sergeant Alberto de Jesus Perez and Corporal Nicanor Antonio Estevez were also arrested.
Days later, after a gigantic operation carried out by officers of the DNCD, the Police major, Miguel Rodriguez, the chief of Anti-Narcotics in San Pedro de Macoris, was arrested. The officer was arrested in the town of Pedro Brand where he was "taking care" of a cocaine shipment for which he was to receive the sum of RD$350,000. The drugs belonged to a Colombian drug network.
The outcome
All of the former members of the security agencies of the state who were recruited by drug trafficking gangs are now in different jails around the country. All are serving a year of preventive prison and are waiting for their trials to begin. Some have asked to be allowed to post bail, but this has been denied by the courts. The commander of the DNCD has reiterated many times that anyone caught involved in drugs will be dishonorably discharged.
Nevertheless, these men regularly are never paid what was agreed to because they are arrested on their first attempts.
The sums that they are offered vary from RD$20,000 up to RD$300,000 and they always agree to do it "just this once."
Of this group, the one that most benefitted was probably the colonel in the National Police, Jose Amado Gonzalez Gonzalez, until he was gunned down by alleged hit men who worked for the drug trafficker Jose David Figueroa Agosto.
Gonzalez Gonzalez was shot several times and killed during the evening of 24 December 2009 in the parking lot of the building where he lived on the Enriquillo Avenue.
The dead colonel was said to have millions in assets in luxurious villas in tourist areas.
Two of the most recent cases are that of the lieutenant colonel Francisco Jose Espinal Muñoz, who was caught by the Army's Intelligence Service on Thursday of last week with 409 pounds of marijuana down near Neyba.
A source revealed that colonel Espinal Muñoz was to have received the sum of RD$200,000 for transporting the drugs, "but he was caught and the money was never paid."
The high ranking officer belonged to the Dominican Air Force, but he did not have any posting and on one occasion he had worked in the National Directorate for Drug Control (DNCD).
The other recent case is that of the Navy second lieutenant Sandy de Leon Melendez, who was arrested by DNCD officers and accused of being a member of a gang that tried to take 807.4 kilos of cocaine out of the country.
Sandy de Leon is supposed to have told the investigators that his role was to try and divert the attention of the anti-drug agents on duty at the Caucedo Multi-Modal Port, and for his work he was supposed to receive RD$400.000 in cash once the drugs reached their destination.
Another recent case is that of the Police lieutenant, Severino Brazoban Guzman and the enlisted man William Gonzlaez Vargas, who are both accused of belonging to a gang that brought cocaine into the La Victoria Prison for sale among the inmates of the penal facility.
Likewise, the recent past reveals cases involving high ranking Police officers such as the drug commanders of Santiago and San Pedro de Macoris.
It will be recalled that at the end of the month of September 2010, the chief of the Anti-Narcotics Division of the National Police in the Cibao, Colonel Franklin Raul Peralta Gonalez, was arrested and accused of "knocking off" local drug traffickers.
The deal supposedly went down at a gasoline station in Licey al Medio. Together with the officer, sergeant Alberto de Jesus Perez and Corporal Nicanor Antonio Estevez were also arrested.
Days later, after a gigantic operation carried out by officers of the DNCD, the Police major, Miguel Rodriguez, the chief of Anti-Narcotics in San Pedro de Macoris, was arrested. The officer was arrested in the town of Pedro Brand where he was "taking care" of a cocaine shipment for which he was to receive the sum of RD$350,000. The drugs belonged to a Colombian drug network.
The outcome
All of the former members of the security agencies of the state who were recruited by drug trafficking gangs are now in different jails around the country. All are serving a year of preventive prison and are waiting for their trials to begin. Some have asked to be allowed to post bail, but this has been denied by the courts. The commander of the DNCD has reiterated many times that anyone caught involved in drugs will be dishonorably discharged.
Diario Libre
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