Federal Agents Arrest Three Individuals on Drug Trafficking Charges, Including Son of Volleyball League Representative

Agents from the Office of Investigations (HSI) of the federal Department of National Security (Homeland Security) arrested Francisco Ramos Domínguez, Coral Rivera Mercado and Robeletti Ramos Pagán on drug trafficking charges last Monday, September 11, the federal agency confirmed. through written statements.

HSI confirmed to El Nuevo Día that Ramos Domínguez is the son of Francisco “Furiel” Ramos Martínez, representative, since 2008, of the Criollas de Caguas in the Women’s Superior Volleyball League (LVSF).

The federal agency highlighted that, on September 6, a grand jury indicted Ramos Domínguez, Rivera Mercado and Ramos Pagan for conspiracy to possess controlled substances with the intent to distribute and for possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute.

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The amended charge alleges that the three defendants conspired to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, five kilograms of cocaine or more. Ramos Dominguez and Rivera Mercado also face charges of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

The document also requests that the three defendants turn over all property obtained through the alleged criminal acts, which includes $5,100,100; and $122,240 taken from Ramos Pagán that were in his suitcase, as well as two gold chains, one of them with diamonds.

Read the amended indictment here

Both Ramos Pagán and Rivera Mercado submitted pleas of not guilty. Ramos Domínguez also entered a plea of ​​not guilty on all charges during an arraignment hearing held this Thursday afternoon. Ramos Domínguez’s defense requested to postpone the bail hearing, so it will take place on September 21 from 11:30 am; At the moment the room was not offered.

The process that led to the arrest and indictment of Ramos Domínguez, Rivera Mercado and Ramos Pagán began on May 24, 2023. A complaint filed by HSI special agent Lorena de León Morilla highlighted that Ramos Pagán handed over, that same day, to the JetBlue terminal of the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport a suitcase inside which agents from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) found five kilograms of cocaine and cash and clothing sealed in vacuum packaging.

Ramos Pagán was scheduled to travel from San Juan to New York, but was intercepted by agents at the terminal. The man, according to the complaint, admitted to the agents that the drugs, money and clothing taken were in the suitcase on his property.

While the authorities were interviewing Ramós Pagán, an agent from the Police Bureau intervened with a woman who was driving against traffic on the outskirts of the airport. After arresting her, the woman identified herself as Rivera Mercado and said that he was at the airport to check if his boyfriend, Ramos Pagán, was okay, since he had not been able to contact him.

The officer detected an odor of marijuana, which Rivera Mercado recognized. After being detained, Rivera Mercado was taken to the airport, and during the process of being interviewed by the agents who detained her boyfriend, she allegedly admitted that it was her idea for Ramos Pagán to transport the drugs in the luggage. The woman also admitted that she tried to hide the smell of the drugs by pouring bleach on the suitcase, and that she had made other trips to the United States in which she transported drugs.

For her part, Rivera Mercado, according to the case docket in the federal Pacer system, was arrested on May 26.

That same day, a grand jury issued an indictment against Ramos Pagán and Rivera Mercado.

After providing bail of $5,000, Magistrate Marcos López issued an arrest warrant against the woman on May 31 after she allegedly left the Guara-bi home in Vega Baja, a center that offers services for people addicted to drugs. This represented a violation of his bail conditions.

Meanwhile, Judge López ordered the detention of Ramos Pagán until the trial in a hearing held on June 1. López also revoked Rivera Mercado’s bail in a hearing held on June 13, after the woman’s defense indicated that they would not dispute the allegations that he violated the conditions to remain free.

According to the record of the case in the federal docket, a grand jury issued, on September 6, an amended indictment in which Ramos Domínguez was also accused. Ramos Domínguez appeared today, Thursday, at the initial hearing before Judge Giselle López Soler, who ordered her temporary detention. His lawyers, Joaquín Monserrate Matienzo and José R. Olmo Rodríguez, argued in favor of granting their client bail.

López Soler highlighted that bail will be resumed in the future after the Federal Prosecutor’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico requests three days to receive a report before the trial.

If convicted, the three defendants face minimum sentences of ten years.

El Nuevo Día contacted Ramos Martínez by telephone, who acquired the Criollas in 2008 through a transaction with the then agent Luis Berríos. However, the businessman indicated that he would not speak about the case. “I’m not going to talk about the case,” he said.

Ramos Domínguez is represented by lawyers Joaquín Monserrate Matienzo and José Olmo Rodríguez.

HSI added that the investigation is being conducted by the Airport Investigations Tactical Team (AirTAT), which is an initiative of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).

Assistant United States Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Gang Section, Teresa Zapata Valladares, Special Assistant Prosecutor R. Vance Eaton and Assistant United States Attorney Hector Siaca of the Gang Section, as well as Assistant United States Attorney of the United States, Jorge L. Matos, of the transnational organized crime section, are in charge of the case.

If you have any information that could contribute to HSI’s efforts against drug trafficking organizations or to report suspicious activity, call 787-729-6969.

2023-09-14 18:07:00
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