Pubdate: Thu, 29 Nov 2007
Source: Dominican Today (Dominican Republic)
Copyright: 2007 Dominican Today
Contact: http://www.dominicantoday.com/app/contact.aspx
Website: http://www.dominicantoday.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4101

TRAFFICKERS WOULD KILL A PERSON TO FILL BODY WITH  DRUGS,
DOMINICAN DRUG CZAR SAYS

SANTO DOMINGO. - Drug trafficking looks for all ways to  evade the
authorities, "even killing a person to remove  their entrails and fill
the empty space with cocaine or  heroin," and using bottles of
recognized Dominican rum  brands and beers to take heroin and cocaine
diluted in  water out of the country, which has forced the  Dominican
antinarcotics agency (DNCD) to send  specialists to the different
airports to thwart the  practice.

DNCD director Rafael Ramirez cited as example Wednesday  night's
arrest of two Spaniards who tried to fly to  Madrid with several
bottles of liquid heroin, disguised  as rum and beer.

"They are looking for a thousand ways to take drugs out  of the
country, as the narcotics traffickers are aware  that the DNCD is
alert to keep from being deceived. We  have to have previously trained
personnel in the  detection of that type of substance, and even more
when  they try to take them out of the country well-sealed  bottles,
as if they had been taken from the alcohol  distilleries," he said.

Antonio Rangel Mariano and Maria Isabel Aguilar MoratA3  were arrested
in Las Americas International Airport  (AILA) shortly before boarding
an Air Comet flight to  the Spanish capital. Both are being held in
the DNCD  compound in Santo Domingo, prior to arraignment.

Rangel and Aguilar passed by AILA control area when  DNCD and Airport
Security (CESA) agents observed  several bottles in their luggage,
which upon being  checked uncovered they weren't rum or beer and
instead  a brown liquid, "with all the characteristics of  heroin."

Ramirez said in the last weeks dozens of cases have  been detected in
AILA, as well as in the Santiago,  Puerto Plata and Punta Cana
airports, where "mules"  frequently try to leave the country to Europe
or the  United States, with drugs in their stomach, bottles or  cans,
with the most traffic headed to Spain and  Holland.

The official said his agents are alert to prevent the  entry or exit
of drugs, regardless of the routes they  use. "Drug traffickers are
capable of anything, that is  to say they could even kill a person,
remove their  entrails and fill the empty space with cocaine or  heroin."
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MAP posted-by: Derek