Analysis: Dominican Republic's drug problem

by Adalberto Grullon 

Friday, February 4, 2005

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (UPI): Everything was going according to plan. The blue truck took off from somewhere in the south, toward a destination in the north. Its two occupants only stopped for 10 minutes in one of Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo's businesses to discuss issues that could not be spoken about over the telephone.

Driver Tirso Cuevas Nin and Lt.-Col. Lidio Nin Terrero were already on the Duarte freeway en route to the country's richest region when a group of armed men, in black uniforms with yellow letters, waylaid them at a traffic light in the Alcarrizos suburb, about 9 miles from the center of the capital.

"Take care, I am a police colonel," Nin Terrero shouted when he saw that the group angrily moving toward him were members of the National Drug Control Directorate, known by its Spanish initials DNCD. This time it did not work, however. Before he had time to escape, he was handcuffed. A tall blond tall man with a foreign accent said to him, "Relax, we will speak English later."

The truck was transporting more than 1.5 tons of pure cocaine valued at $30 million. It was the largest consignment of illegal drugs seized in the Dominican Republic since the country began being used as a bridgehead by international drug trafficking cartels.

Authorities said Castillo, arrested the same day, was the local head of an international gang that transports illegal drugs from South America to the United States. Nin and Terrero were also members of the cartel. Later, a fourth person was arrested and linked to the case as the individual responsible for the smuggling logistics.

"The drug load arrived by air in southern Elias Pina province, where Castillo has a large ranch and from there it was taken to a company in the duty free zone of Santiago to be flown to the United States," said DNCD spokesman Rafael Bueno Torres.

At the time of his capture, Nin was head of the public jail in Quince de Azua, 105 miles from Santo Domingo and considered one of most secure penal institutions in the country. He and colleagues arrested with him said they were innocent, but gave investigators differing accounts.

Nin said he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I was waiting for a bus to go visit a friend in Alcarrizos, when the truck went by and I asked for a ride," he said. "That is what my crime is."

Television and radio comedians have found the comments an inexhaustible source of material.

More than a month after the drug shipment was seized, authorities still have only four people in jail, though they said they had been following the case for years. Information disclosed by the DNCD and the U.S. embassy in the country partly explains why the list is so short.

Castillo was a captain in the National Army until last September. He enlisted as a lieutenant and was promoted a year later by former President Hipolito Mejia, violating all regulations of the Armed Forces and despite the fact he had a criminal drug record. 

His fortune is estimated at more than $1 billion and includes ranches, hotels, helicopters, a fleet of buses and trucks, gas stations, automobile dealerships, import and export businesses and several industries. At the time of his arrest, he was being driven in a new Mercedes Benz. The vehicle was registered to the Senate's vice president, Cesar Augusto Matias.

Castillo's family said he had donated money to the country's three main political parties, and was respected by the armed forces and society.

Gen. Jose Estrella, head of the National Army, acknowledged that until September 2004 Castillo supplied the fort in San Juan de la Maguana province with milk and bananas to feed the garrison.

The former president has refused to explain why he promoted Castillo, who at the time was heading a political movement aimed at re-electing Mejia.

Regardless, the Dominican Republic's Attorney General anticipates Mejia could be summoned to testify.
U.S. Ambassador Hans Hertell revealed Castillo and his cartel have outstanding warrants in the United States, which is why the Bush administration is working on getting Castillo extradited. A New York court wants him on conspiracy and drug trafficking charges.

"We have been following this gang's operations for the past three years," Hertell said. "It took us so long to capture the main responsible because drug trafficking has infiltrated the Dominican Armed Forces, the police and the country's politicians."

He added at least 30 officials of those organizations had been directly implicated in the drugs trade.

Hertell noted while the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had a unit in the country, the information it shared with the DNCD went directly to the drug traffickers, making it nearly impossible to capture them.

Although it is assumed Castillo will be extradited, calls are growing for investigations to find all those involved in the operation.

Adalberto Grullon is a writer with Tiempos del Mundo)

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