The FBI simultaneously carried out raids in California, New York, Florida, Maryland, and Missouri.
SANTO DOMINGO.- The Public Ministry has launched Operation Discovery 3.0 with a large team of prosecutors from the General Directorate of Prosecution of the Public Ministry, the Directorate of International Legal Cooperation, the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, and the Santiago Prosecutor's Office.
The investigation that launched the operation had been ongoing for more than two years and made it possible to identify a structured group that operated through digital platforms to commit crimes such as computer fraud, theft of personal data, identity theft and money laundering, mostly using elderly people.
The operation involved 34 raids carried out by 50 prosecutors and 375 members of the National Police . The raids took place in Santiago, Puerto Plata, and Santo Domingo.
The operation, which is being carried out jointly with the Special Division for the Investigation of International Organized Crime (Deicroi) of the National Police, has the international cooperation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States.
The FBI simultaneously carried out raids in California, New York, Florida, Maryland, and Missouri.
Among those arrested are Dominicans Óscar Manuel Castaños García, Edward José Puello García, Joel de la Cruz and Gerardo Heriberto Núñez Núñez who are being sought for extradition by the United States.
Wilson Camacho , head of the General Directorate of Prosecution of the Public Ministry, explained that the operation is part of the determined decision of the Attorney General, Yeni Berenice Reynoso, to firmly and continuously confront cybercrime and organized crime.
Camacho stated that the operation resulted in the arrest of nine people , four of whom are wanted for extradition by U.S. authorities. Authorities also seized cash, luxury vehicles, high-value jewelry, electronic equipment, firearms, and liquid marijuana.
The detainees will be placed at the disposal of the Supreme Court of Justice for the purpose of extradition proceedings and before the Judicial Office of Permanent Attention Services of the Judicial District of Santiago so that the judges may determine coercive measures for the criminal process in the Dominican Republic.
The Public Prosecutor's Office has carried out two previous operations on similar crimes: Discovery and Discovery 2.0. In both, individuals and companies belonging to criminal networks that primarily affected retired U.S. citizens, depriving them of their financial resources and subjecting them to harassment and deception, were brought to justice.
