Dominican Republic: DNCD, Navy seize 279 kilograms of cocaine

By Dialogo
April 15, 2013

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – The Dominican Republic Navy, Dominican National Directorate for Drug Control (DNCD) and U.S. Navy personnel worked together to seize 279 kilograms of cocaine and arrest two suspects, officials said on April 12.
The bust was made off the coast of Boca Chica, where security forces converged on a boat while three men were seen throwing drugs overboard. The three suspects jumped into the water to try to evade authorities.
However, Dominican Abraham Aquino de la Cruz, a native of Barahona, drowned, but Venezuelans Armando José Mendoza and Leonel Gilarte were taken into custody, according to Roberto Lebrón, a DNCD spokesman.
The bust comes less than three months after a joint operation in which the DNCD, Navy and Air Force seized a huge shipment of South American cocaine, marking the first major bust of 2013. On Jan. 9, the three forces confiscated 1,870 kilograms (4,123 pounds) of cocaine in Ocoa Bay in the province of Azua on the Caribbean coast.
[Dominican Today (Dominican Republic), 12/04/2013; Despertar Dominicano (Dominican Republic), 12/04/2013]