Police 1,200k vanished drug scandal: No crime if they return goods

Santo Domingo.- As a déjà when a former Presidency’s Legal Advisor affirmed that “there’s no crime if a forged land title is returned,” officers of the Police Narcotics Div. (DICAN) decided to handover properties they allegedly stole with the hope of avoiding criminal prosecution.

The Justice Ministry’s investigation into the reportedly 1,200 kilos of cocaine which allegedly “vanished” at DICAN) Police took a new twist Thursday, when it emerged that officers would return apartments, cash, vehicles and other properties in exchange for averting punishment.

Justice minister Francisco Dominguez however said the commission named to investigate the scandal has sought to locate a series of documents and has questioned several DICAN officers, yet to be identified.

Local media report that the inventory on the drugs seized had disappeared, and another appeared, citing "nothing incriminating" found in several raids.

During Leonel Fernandez’s first term in office, then Legal Advisor Abel Rodriguez del Orbe stated that since the forged titles to the lands at Bahia de las Aguilas had been returned, “there was no crime.”