Network of Dominican cocaine traffickers dismantled

posted on: Jan 21 2010 13:36 by The Reporter. Viewed 1330 times.


French and Spanish authorities have dismantled a network of Dominicans, mostly members of one family, who trafficked in cocaine between the two countries.

Several of those involved in the gang managed to escape to Santo Domingo, but an international arrest warrant has been issued by a French judge.

The drug ring, with members originally from Azua and Barahona in the Dominican Republic, operated between Madrid (Spain) and the city of Nantes, the capital of the French department of Loire-Atlantique, according to a report submitted to the National Drugs Control (DNCD) by the French National Police and the Spanish Guardia Civil. Several of those involved in the network managed to escape to the Dominican Republic, where they are wanted.

Judges in France and Spain, from the court of Rennes, (Britanny � France) and the Madrid-Plaza de Castilla, issued arrest warrants against the accused, naming one as Kenia Maribel Beltr� after a police raid on his home.

Police used wiretaps and surveillance to identify the drug gang and named those arrested as Fernando Cuevas, Angel B�ez Cuevas, Alberto Dionisio, Fernando Antonio Beltr� Beltr�, alias Manolo and Juan Francisco Escalante Gal�n -  all arrested by French police on March 2009 when they arrived at the Nantes train station on route from Madrid.

The investigation that followed those arrests helped to show that Beltre Beltre, who lives in Madrid, sent items of approximately one kilo of cocaine to Fernando Cuevas and Angel B�ez Cuevas for resale. The collaboration of the Dominican authorities has been key to these arrests, the report said.
Others involved in the gang are Amilcar Matos Rodr�guez (alias Bigote), Eulogido F�liz Castillo (nicknamed Calim�n), Benicia Antonia Beltr� Beltr�, Jailin Adalgisa Ram�rez Reyes and Eduardo Ubr�(known as El Calvo). All are natives of Las Yayas and Taba Arriba, in Azua, where it is now presumed those who escaped from Madrid are hiding.

According to the report from the National Police and Guardia Civil, those who fled to the Dominican Republic �to try to avoid prosecution� are named as Elvin Antonio Beltr� Beltr�, Amilcar Matos Rodr�guez, Elogido F�liz Castillo and Jailin Ram�rez Reyes.

French judges have issued warrants for their arrest and extradition back to France.
The report goes on to explain that these men carried out up to 10 trips between Madrid and Nantes, using rail transport services and Euroline bus services between the summer of 2008 and 2009. It also found that transfers of funds were made between Nantes, Madrid and the Dominican Republic, to relatives of the accused.

"Usually, transportation of the drugs was done by bus or rail, using two people; a man accompanied by a woman carrying the drugs, to ensure that the operation was carried out correctly," says the report.

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