In a raid carried out by Dominican authorities in coordination with the US Marshalls, the alleged drug traffickers Vladimir Natera Abreu and Joset Jomar Rivera Verdejo were captured, who were wanted in the country by the National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) 2019.
The search and capture operation was carried out this Sunday in conjunction with the Procuratorate and the DNCD in the Gil Roma XX tower, in Evaristo Morales.
Authorities reported that the two drug traffickers are detained at the DNCD headquarters and in the custody of Marshalls agents, U.S. sheriffs.
Authorities said in a press release that the process for his extradition to Puerto Rico will begin in the next few hours, where they have pending lawsuits with the court for crimes related to drug trafficking.
Authorities further explained that their seizure occurred as part of the strategies they are implementing against drug trafficking in the country.
They reported that the operation this Sunday is part of the international cooperation actions carried out by the Dominican State against organized crime.
Wanted since 2019
Natera Abreu, considered the largest cocaine drug trafficker in Puerto Rico, is accused of being the alleged ringleader of the drug gang of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Pedrera (FARC).
Members of the powerful FARC drug gang had friendships and “strong connections” in the Dominican Republic, according to then-spokesman for U.S. federal bailiffs Pedro Fortier in March 2019.
This criminal organization was engaged in distributing narcotics from South America, and used the Dominican Republic as a “springboard” to send drugs to Puerto Rico, where it operated specifically in Santurce, San Juan.
On March 10, 2019, Dominican authorities reported the arrest of four Puerto Ricans allegedly associated with the FARC.
Among those captured were Fernando Hilari Figueroa, who had previously been arrested for the murder of drug trafficker Carlos Giovanni Báez Rosa (Tonka), as well as Janelys Delgado, who allegedly had an affair with Natera Abreu.
The other two people arrested on that occasion were linked to the FARC organization, the murder of Tonka and the death of draper Kevin Fret are Edison Mercè Oliveras (Chinese) and Waldemar Febres Sánchez, both were extradited to Puerto Rico.
For his part, Joset Jomar Rivera Verdejo, another accused by Puerto Rican justice and arrested alongside Vladimir Natera, is also linked to the death of Fret, murdered on January 11, 2019. The 24-year-old went received eight shots while riding his motorcycle in San Juan.
In February last year, Puerto Rican media reported that Vladimir Natera Abreu had been captured in the Dominican Republic without confirming the information with the country’s authorities, but it was this Sunday when the his arrest.