Marino Vinicio Castillo

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Marino Vinicio Castillo, known by the nickname Vincho, is a prominent Dominican lawyer, and is currently serving the Dominican Republic government as national drug czar and president of the conservative political party Progressive National Force (FNP). He is also the main attorney for Ramón Báez Figueroa, accused of the largest bank fraud of Dominican history.

[edit] Operations against drug trafficking

Castillo has been an outspoken law-and-order crusader for over twenty years and has taken a hardline position against the growth of narcotics trafficking in the Dominican Republic. Drug profits are finding their way into the economy in the island nation. Office buildings, hotels and shopping centers are springing up in Santo Domingo, Santiago and San Francisco de Macorís - often in a gaudy style that some describe as narco-deco. Dominican banks have opened branches as far away as Thailand, raising new fears about the growing economic influence of the traffickers.

On May 11, 1998 Castillo is quoted as saying "There is a process of Colombianization going on, it is a very serious threat," adding, "The Colombians may not have been able to detect it happening there, but here we can see the narcotics traffickers covertly infiltrating the banking system, political parties and the media."^[1]

During December 1999 Castillo stood beside U.S. officials in Santo Domingo and announced the seizure of three drug-transporting planes owned by Mexican drug lord Luis Horacio Cano, a man indicted on 57 counts of narcotrafficking and convicted in U.S. federal court.^[2] According to a statement released by Castillo in March of 2006, drug trafficking heightened its infiltration of the Dominican political parties and the Armed Forces because of the “paradise” and protection provided during Hipólito Mejía’s presidency (2000-2004), but the current authorities firmly fight it. In that regard, Castillo mentioned the 1,300 kilos of cocaine seized in December 2004 in the case against the ex-Army captain Quirino Paulino, who was extradited to the United States.^[3]

[edit] Other notable prosecutions

Castillo prosecuted former Dominican President Salvador Jorge Blanco (1982 - 1986) during the government of President Joaquín Balaguer (1986-1996). Blanco was sentenced for corruption during office, and later appealed, is currently missing. The trial, which primarily focused on overpriced items purchased by the Jorge Blanco government, was aired on TV for several months.^[4]

During 2005 Castillo represented Ramón Báez Figueroa in criminal proceedings for the US$2.5 billion embezzlement case which led to the collapse of the bank Baninter and unleashed the events causing the Dominican Republic’s worst financial crisis in history. The defunct Baninter bank, collapsed in 2003, costing the Domincan tax payers RD$55 billions.

On December 19, 2005, Castillo made a RD$1 million check out to senator Hernani Salazar, to cover the civil damages ratified by the Supreme Court in the controversial lawsuit. The payment of the damages stems from Salazar’s libel suit against Vincho Castillo, after the attorney publicly accused the legislator of being linked to drug-trafficking suspect Quirino Paulino, via the ex-colonel Pedro Julio "Pepe" Goico, in the transaction of a US$1.8 million Colibri helicopter, subsequently confiscated from and sold at auction.^[5]

[edit] Notes

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