( Spanish) – The police network dismantled in the so-called Operation Pandora this Sunday in the Dominican Republic allegedly created a criminal organization that clandestinely trafficked the institution’s ammunition and other supplies, according to the request for a coercive measure from the Public Ministry to which had access. Some of these elements would have been destined for Haitian nationals in the binational market in Pedernales for alleged use in criminal activities, according to the prosecutor’s document.
The preliminary investigation determined that at least 10 senior officers, officers and enlisted members of the National Police of the Arms Administration of the institution and a company had used their functions to “steal, traffic and market ammunition of different calibers, including for rifles, as well as like other police equipment acquired by the Dominican State.” Among those identified is Colonel Narciso Feliz Romero, former Armas Superintendent, who was pointed out by the authorities as the leader of this network.
Feliz Romero’s legal representative, Vinicio Aquino Figuereo, denied the accusations against his client and stated that it was the former mayor of Armas who uncovered the “Pandora’s box.”
At the beginning of November and in the middle of the investigation, Romero was removed from office by decision of the director of the National Police. At the time, the force said it was a routine change.
The head of the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca), Wilson Camacho, responded to the lawyer this Tuesday by stating that “who we must thank is the Ministry of the Interior and Police, the Directorate of the National Police and the Inspectorate of the National Police, who have had a commitment to absolute and complete collaboration with the Public Ministry.”
In the request for a coercive measure of more than 200 pages, the prosecuting body accuses the accused Miguelina Bello Segura—cousin of one of the officers detained in Operation Pandora—of illegal marketing of ammunition and related materials in the border province of Pedernales. , in the south of the country. The accused agreed on Monday to be willing to collaborate with the Public Ministry in the investigation.
According to the Public Ministry, Bello Segura received dozens of boxes of ammunition of different calibers that he clandestinely sold to Haitian nationals who used them in criminal activities. The head of Pepca avoided referring to this issue when questioned as he left the hearing room.
is attempting to contact Bello Segura’s legal representative for comment.
In April, the United Nations indicated that the Dominican Republic is among the four main arms trafficking routes to Haiti through the common border.
According to the Public Ministry, the detainees “destroyed evidence that compromised their criminal responsibility” and tried to “incriminate lower-ranking members within the organization.”
The Specialized Prosecutor’s Office says that the criminal network also allegedly threatened and intimidated witnesses, and that it facilitated, concealed, transferred and transported assets and profits from illicit activities.
According to the authorities, between February and October the accused stole at least 908,000 ammunition of different calibers, for an amount close to a million dollars.
The Public Ministry requested preventive detention for the detainees as a measure of coercion, which was postponed on Tuesday and set for November 25 at the Ciudad Nueva Courthouse in Santo Domingo.
The Minister of the Interior and Police, Faride Raful, said that with Operation Pandora a system of impunity has been broken. The official highlighted that this investigation by the Public Ministry began in October, after a joint request from the Ministry of the Interior and Police and the director of the uniformed service, Major General Ramón Guzmán Peralta.
According to Dominican laws, the defendants could face up to 20 years in prison for the crime of illicit arms trafficking, in addition to paying a fine of 50 to 75 public sector minimum wages, equivalent to between US$16,100 and US$24,150.
In addition, the crime of falsification or alteration of the technical characteristics of firearms could carry a main penalty of between 5 and 10 years in prison, plus confiscation of the firearm and payment of a fine of 10 to 15 minimum wages, between US$3,220 and US$4,830.
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