643 packages of cocaine seized in a large-scale operation in the country

Santo Domingo.- Authorities seized 643 packages of cocaine in La Altagracia, in the framework of an operation carried out by the Public Ministry in cooperation with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the United States. In the operation, called “Leopard”, 27 prosecutors participated along with 194 agents from the National Directorate for Drug Control (DNCD). The authorities carried out 17 raids in various parts of the country, including the exclusive Cap Cana urbanization, in the aforementioned province, according to a statement from the DNCD, which did not specify any arrests in these actions. The stash is linked to another one of 993 kilograms of cocaine, seized in April on a vessel anchored in a tourist port in La Altagracia and which, in turn, was related to a drug trafficking structure headed by the Serbian Nikola Boros, also identified as Antun Mrdeza, wanted by Interpol for the crime of cocaine trafficking between the United States, Puerto Rico, Spain and Italy.

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The seizure of this Saturday’s cargo “constitutes an important blow to drug trafficking networks and transnational organized crime and is further proof that the country’s security forces continue to improve their strength and integration in the fight against structures dedicated to drug trafficking, money laundering and other crimes,” said in a statement the president of the DNCD, Vice Admiral José Manuel Cabrera Ulloa. During the operation, the authorities seized five properties, several vehicles, cash, a recreational boat, as well as firearms, including an AR-15 rifle.