The Public Ministry established 29 main characteristics of the organized crime network in the so-called “Operation Falcon“, Which was dismantled last Wednesday with more than 100 rapes in Santiago, Santo Domingo, the National District and other demarcations of the country.
Through the request for coercive measures, to which this newspaper had access, the court ruled that this network created a transnational criminal organization dedicated to trafficking cocaine from the Dominican Republic to Europe, States United and Puerto Rico, having like center of command and operation the province of Santiago.
They also trafficked hundreds of thousands of kilos of drugs in these countries, mobilizing more than $ 500 million as a result of this criminal activity.
These carried and trafficked high-caliber firearms, many of them only allowed for use by police and military as is the case with rifles.
Defendants placed the millionaire cash they received from their illicit operations, such as drug trafficking and arms trafficking, through companies engaged in production, fuel stations, financial, dealers, vehicles. luxury, estates, cattle, expensive watches, among other businesses.
They transformed their transactions with the aim of placing funds in the legal economy and in financial institutions. The defendants, the prosecution says, tried to give a legal appearance to their activities through documents full of falsehoods, with the aim of hiding the trace of their illicit origin and justifying the rapid increase in their fortune. .
In chapters 17 and 18 of the application for coercion, the MP cites the following: “They integrated much of the illicit capital in the market in order to create a series of strata and thus complicate the task of determine how the money entered the legal economy or how it was disposed of.They invested illicit money in new crimes to ensure their impunity, for which they buy consciences, loyalties and impunity “.
Another of the activities is that they financed political campaigns in seats in the National Congress, mayors, municipal council, among other entities, with the aim of having influence and power.
That is why in point 20 of the coercion measure the Public Ministry emphasizes that “they founded a criminal organization that has all the aggravating factors that the legislator has considered for the typical conduct of the money laundering, which are: participation as an organized criminal structure. The organization is made up of dozens of people, some holding public office, among other aggravating factors of the type. “
Other modus operandi
Those involved in the Operation Falcon they detailed their criminal operations through conversations in telephone applications that were legally intercepted.
Also, they evaded the criminal persecution of the authorities, called to avoid that the facts already investigated took place; equally, they came out of court proceedings easily, despite having serious charges.
However, they established a criminal structure similar to that traditionally followed by the Italian mafia, integrating the family as an essential part of the illicit business.
The Public Ministry states through the document that the defendants were helped by forced subjects who ignored their role to put themselves at the service of the criminal network, including lawyers, financial institutions and accountants. authorized audiences.
Likewise, they acquired the totality of the properties of some services, as the case of the stations of fuel of the municipality of Miches.
In addition to the operations they conducted in the regulated financial system, they handled millions of dollars in cash, which were used to finance their illicit operations, according to Chapter 26.
Meanwhile, they threatened and intimidated people against those who committed crimes, to prevent them from suing by creating a kind of power parallel to what they had more authority in, in some sectors, than legitimate commands.
more features
According to the MP, the perpetrators tried to evade criminal prosecution using the legislative immunity of a deputy carrying an extradible, trying to evade the hoop of persecution.
Finally, in paragraph 29, the judicial body points out that they used multiple corporate vehicles with facades of lawful companies and effectively placed billions of pesos in the financial system through various operations, but all with the illegality of the origin of the funds.