Two suspects arrested for participating in the kidnapping of a person in Higüey

Santo Domingo.– The Public Ministry arrested, along with the National Police, a married couple considered among the “dangerous” members of a network dedicated to kidnapping and money laundering. Tairi Vásquez Severino and her partner Jhan Carlos Rivera Martínez were arrested by the Specialized Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Prosecutor’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office of La Altagracia, with the technical support of the Anti-Kidnapping Units of the General Directorate of Prosecution of the Public Ministry.

You may be interested in: Two arrested carrying several stolen cell phones in La Vega

The arrest took place this Thursday during a raid carried out at his place of residence in the Villa Cerro sector, in the municipality of Higüey, La Altagracia province. Both were pursued as front men and nominees of Alfredo Vásquez Severino and Ambioris Vásquez Severino, who, along with other members of the network, kidnapped a 47-year-old person in La Otra Banda, Higüey, and then requested a ransom payment of twenty million pesos. The accused, with the money obtained from the kidnapping, purchased two high-end vehicles from a dealership in Santo Domingo Este, which were under the ownership of one of the accused in the network at the time of their arrest in May 2025. The victim was subjected to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, beatings and injuries, and impairment of freedom of movement for four days, leaving them with severe emotional trauma. Similarly, they forced the victim’s family to seek more than 6 million pesos and transfer vehicles to the names of those related to the accused to avoid their trail. In the operation, the investigating prosecutors in the case, Claudio Cordero and Surielly Guerrero, participated, as well as members of the National Police’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit. Several significant pieces of evidence were seized during the raid, including electronic devices and documents that prove the arrested individuals’ involvement in the events. The heads of the Specialized Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Prosecutor’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office of La Altagracia, Ramona Nova and Claudia Garrido, stated that the identification and capture of these two defendants deals a resounding blow to the structure. They also indicated that the leader of the gang, Alfredo Vásquez Severino (Chimbala), and other members already identified by the Public Ministry are fugitives.