Santo Domingo.– A court imposed three months of preventive detention against Alex Orlando Raposo Gómez, identified by the Public Ministry as an alleged member of an international drug trafficking network, after authorities seized 243.40 kilograms of cocaine during an operation carried out at a cockfighting arena in Pedro Brand.
The measure was requested by the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office against Illicit Drug Trafficking and the Santo Domingo Oeste Prosecutor’s Office. The case was also declared as complex litigation.
According to the file, Raposo Gómez was arrested last July 18 during an operation at a cockfighting arena located at kilometer 36 of the Duarte highway, where 237 packages of cocaine hydrochloride were found inside a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, hidden in secret compartments.
The Public Ministry reported that the seized substance was analyzed by the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif), which determined a total weight of 243.40 kilograms.
The investigation establishes that the criminal structure under investigation operated with international routes from La Guajira, Colombia, and Venezuelan territory toward the east and south coast of the Dominican Republic.
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According to the authorities, the vehicles used by the organization were employed to transport the substances to storage points, including a cockfighting arena located on the Duarte Highway, where a transaction related to the shipment was allegedly to take place.
During the raid, the authorities also seized RD$296,000 in cash, a 12-gauge shotgun, a pellet rifle, a bulletproof vest with the letters “National Police”, a digital night vision binocular, and other items that will be incorporated into the investigation.
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The Public Ministry indicated that the defendant is provisionally charged with violations of Law 50-88 on Drugs and Controlled Substances, Law 631-16 on weapons, ammunition and related materials, as well as Law 155-17 against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing.
Judge Cecilia Toribio, of the Judicial Office of Permanent Attention Services of Santo Domingo West, ordered that Raposo Gómez serve the measure at the Las Parras Correction and Rehabilitation Center (CCR), in San Antonio de Guerra.
The authorities indicated that investigations are ongoing to identify other possible members and determine the scope of the organization linked to the case.
