DINTEL dismantles alleged forgery network in Santiago; seizes firearm and arrests five people

Five people were detained for investigation purposes during a series of simultaneous raids carried out by the Cibao Central Regional Intelligence Sub-directorate (DINTEL), in coordination with the Preventive Police, the SWAT unit, and the Public Ministry, where authorities seized evidence allegedly linked to the forgery of identification documents.

The operations were carried out in the Carretera Licey, Jacagua, and Francisco del Rosario Sánchez sectors, as part of the actions aimed at combating criminal structures and strengthening citizen security in Santiago.

The spokesperson for the Cibao Central Regional Directorate of the National Police in this city, Fiordaliza Popa Arias, reported that during the interventions, a blank-firing firearm, 16 cartridges, two pistol magazines, three monitors, one CPU, one printer, three keyboards, five mice, 11 cell phones, dozens of SIM cards from different telephone companies, two routers, student IDs, and hundreds of molds allegedly used for the manufacturing of identification documents were seized.

We recommend reading: DINTEL seizes more than eight pounds of suspected marijuana and arrests two men during operation

Popa Arias indicated that the authorities seized numerous driver’s licenses from different countries, which will be subjected to expert analysis to determine their authenticity, as there are indications that they could have been forged.

According to preliminary investigations, one of the detainees is allegedly directly linked to a structure dedicated to the illegal production of identification cards, so investigations are continuing to establish the scope of the operations and determine if there are more people involved.

The National Police reported that the five detainees and all seized evidence were handed over to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the agency that will continue the investigative process and determine the corresponding legal actions.