La Barranquita: crime in broad daylight that shakes citizens' confidence

The entire country remains shaken after learning the details of the bloody police operation that occurred on September 10 in Santiago, where five men were executed in the parking lot of the Corona Plaza shopping center, in the La Barranquita sector, in broad daylight. What was initially presented as an exchange of gunfire between agents and alleged criminals has been qualified by the Public Ministry as an "extrajudicial execution", a fact that exposes the shadows within the National Police and tests citizens' trust in the State's security forces. According to the court record filed by the Santiago Prosecutor's Office, eleven agents of the National Police, belonging to different divisions of the Central Directorate of Investigation (DICRIM), directly participated in the operation that ended the lives of the victims Edward Bernardo Peña Rodríguez, Carlos Enrique Guzmán Navarro alias El Charly, Elvis Antonio Martínez Rodríguez, Julio Alberto Gómez alias La Tabla, and José Vladimir Valerio Estévez alias Vladi.

You can also read: The 11 police officers accused of killing five men in La Barranquita are transferred to a hearing

The operation, allegedly linked to a supposed arms trafficking case, was carried out in a coordinated manner between Dicrim agents in Santo Domingo and members of the Cibao Central Regional Investigation Sub-Directorate, based in Santiago.

The facts according to the MP's file:

• At 2:15 p.m. The uniformed officers left in three vehicles towards Olímpica Avenue, La Barranquita sector, and arrived at the scene distributed in three vehicles: a white Toyota Hilux pickup, a Kia Rio, and a Toyota Yaris.
• At 2:21 p.m. Upon arriving at Olímpica Avenue, the defendants positioned themselves in the vehicles near the scene.
• At 2:22 p.m.: the gold Honda Civic car, license plate A576131, driven by Carlos Enrique Guzmán Navarro alias El Charly, arrived at the plaza.
• One minute later, the white Kia car, license plate A824816, owned by José Vladimir Valerio Estévez, arrived, who met with the other victims who were on board the white Mazda car, license plate A302436, and who entered the parking lot of the aforementioned plaza.
• At 2:26 p.m. the police officers parked in front of the plaza, got out of the vehicles and, without a word, opened fire on the victims: Edward Bernardo Peña Rodríguez; Carlos Enrique Guzmán Navarro; Elvis Antonio Martínez Rodríguez; Julio Alberto Gómez and José Vladimir Valerio Estévez.

The attack was as swift as it was brutal. Dozens of shots hit the cars, causing the immediate death of the victims. Forensic reports indicate that all received multiple gunshot wounds, many of them in vital areas, and that none of the victims had a chance to defend themselves. Among the accused are high-ranking officers and active agents belonging to the Dicrim or its sub-directorate in the Central Cibao, based in Santiago de los Caballeros. Among them are:

• Major Álvaro Paredes Paniagua
• Captain José Ignacio Gómez Rodríguez
• Second Lieutenant Domingo De Los Santos Vargas
• Corporal Yohandy Encarnación
• Corporal Geyser Francisco Álvarez Rodríguez
• Private Adrián Miguel Villalona Pineda
• Major Hansel Michel Cuevas Carrasco
• Sergeant Major Sócrates Fidel Feliz Feliz
• Sergeant Hairo Mateo Morillo
• Corporal César Augusto Martínez Trinidad
• Private José Octavio Jiménez Peña

The prosecution accuses them of voluntary homicide, illicit association, abuse of authority, human rights violations, and obstruction of justice. According to prosecutors, after the shots were fired, the accused stole video surveillance equipment (DVRs) from several businesses, as well as cell phones from witnesses and people who were in the area, in order to eliminate all evidence that could incriminate them. A resident of a neighboring building reported that she recorded part of the shooting from her balcony, but minutes later several agents went up to her home, snatched her phone and deleted the video before leaving the scene. Despite attempts at cover-up, the Public Ministry managed to recover images from the 911 system and nearby cameras showing the agents' movements before and after the operation, as well as the hasty withdrawal of the units involved. Ballistic evidence and forensic findings The National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif) conducted a thorough survey of the area, finding hundreds of shell casings of various calibers (5.56 mm, 9 mm, 45 mm, among others) and multiple impacts on the victims' vehicles. Inside the automobiles, gunpowder residue, firearms, and mutilated projectiles were found, some of which may have been placed after the event to simulate a confrontation. The Inacif concluded that the five men died of hemorrhagic shock caused by gunshot wounds, and that the trajectory of the shots suggests an execution at close range, not an exchange of fire. The director of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca), Wilson Camacho, was categorical when referring to the case:

“What happened in La Barranquita was not a failed operation, it was an extrajudicial execution planned and carried out by state agents”.

Similarly, Vice President Raquel Peña and the Archbishop of Santiago have called for justice and to ensure a transparent process, underlining the institutional gravity of the events that occurred in La Barranquita. The case has generated national outrage and several sectors are demanding an independent investigation and exemplary sanctions for those responsible. Likewise, victims' families have stated that they feel doubly outraged, first by the execution and then by the attempts of those involved to distort the facts. The Public Ministry's file describes a carefully coordinated operation between elite police units, carried out with state resources and under false pretenses.