Santo Domingo.- The case of the Puerto Rican fugitive Jose Figueroa Agosto meanders within official echelons, while the attention of the Commission which investigates the criminal organization focuses more in explaining internal contradictions than in contributing to the probe.

The latest faux pa in the effort to uncover Figueroa’s whereabouts and his ring’s superstructure, was the disappearance of and tampering with his “list of expenses” to pay for favors and settle debts.

The list, seized from Ricardo Ivanovich Smester, now being held in the prison at Najayo on charges of being Figueroa’s accomplice, was guarded by the commission as key evidence, but was mysteriously leaked to a news source, which National District prosecutor Alejandro Moscoso, visibly angry, saw it as an effort to discredit the Justice Ministry’s effort.

The list was only handled by the Commission which includes the Justice Ministry, the Police, the Drugs Control Agency (DNCD) and the Armed Forces.

But Moscoso didn’t venture to say who might’ve been behind the alleged plan to discredit the Justice Ministry and disqualify it as head of the investigation.

News source El Caribe reports that only one general from an unspecified branch had a copy of the list and which he obtained at the end of a meeting of the Commission’s members, after Smester was interrogated.

The “list” cites 175,000 dollars to bribe an unnamed prosecutor and a judge.

The Figueroa case has also been stonewalled by other situations which have even led to veiled confrontations between the Commission’s very members.

On January 30 Omar Antigua Polanco, one of Figueroa’s top operatives was gunned down in the parking lot of the department store Carrefour, but it wasn’t until four days later when the Justice Ministry learned that this man was the most wanted fugitive’s lieutenant, despite that the Police and the DNCD -which form part of the Commission- were aware of it.

Two weeks ago two unidentified men tried to enter the Najayo cell holding Mary Peláez, accused of washing Figueroa’s assets, but when the jail guards prevented it, the men said they were assigned to watch Dolphy Peláez, Mary’s sister.

Absence in the report

Another fact which reveals the contradictions within the commission was the inexplicable absence of Justice minister Radhamés Jiménez, and Moscoso in the mid January gathering with media executives to present details of the investigation.

And although the activity was programmed far in advance, the explanation of the senior judicial officials was that they had previous commitments.