Yet more politicians in the Dominican Republic are unable to establish that their money came from clean sources, as Admiral Sigfrido Pared Perez, current head of the Department of National Investigations, claimed that several candidates running for office in this past May's elections received money from unidentified drug sources.
Admiral Pared did not identify the candidates who ran for office, and he left open the possibility that candidates who were elected also took money from criminal elements tied to an industry that has seen the Dominican Republic turn into one of the largest drug hubs in the world.
In his interview with the television channel Telesistema, Admiral Pared alleged that the DNI received information from "every single Dominican province," with people providing information about candidates whose campaign was being financed fully by drug traffickers, but he did not say if the President had ordered for investigations to be opened.
It is unlikely that the DNI will be able to conduct successful investigations, as the agency itself has in the past been embroiled in drug scandals leading all the way to its former head, Chief Florentino.
 |
| DR serves as central hub for world's drugs. D. de Bahia |
It was diplomatic cables leaked to Wikileaks by former US Army Private Chelsea Manning that revealed Mr. Florentino's ties to some of the biggest drugs traffickers in Latin America, revelations which caused tremendous headaches for the Dominican Republic's at-the-time president, Leonel Fernandez.
The DNI got its start in the 1950s during the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, and it was at the time a fearsome agency which tortured and kidnapped people off the streets.
Mr. Pared claims that the solution to preventing political candidates from receiving drug money is to return to some of the tactics from the 1950s, by increasing the number of undercover officers patrolling the streets and following up on places where criminals congregate.
It is unlikely that the candidates will ever be properly investigated, but we may now have reason for undercover DNI patrols on the streets of the Dominican Republic.
