‘Cockfighter’ case stokes festering feud between senior officials

Santo Domingo.- The festering feud between Presidency Antinarcotics advisor Marino V. "Vincho" Castillo and Justice minister Francisco Dominguez surfaced again Wednesday, when a special prosecutor asked the former to butt out, just hours after he accused his foe of “staging a show” with the arrest of an alleged drug trafficker known as el Gallero (cockfighter).

Deputy prosecutor German Miranda asked Castillo to let the prosecutors do their investigations, in the case against the “cockfighter” Winston Rizik, and that his arrest wasn’t a show. "Impunity has ran out, not just for Rizik, but for all those who aim to continue sheltered under the cloak of impunity."

He denied that prosecutors described Rizik as "dangerous" and that it misread by the country’s numerous media.

Ono Tuesday a Monte Plata (east) judge remanded Rizik to three months of pretrial detention at Najayo Prison, on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.