Dominican Republic courts free three suspects in marijuana plantation, sentence another to 10 years

A judge in San José de Ocoa district ordered the release of a Dominican man, Guillermo Amauris Casado Custodio, and two Haitian nationals, Jhonson Pie and Yorki Iso, after a drug‑control operation seized more than 3,000 marijuana plants in the El Pinar community. The court found insufficient evidence to justify continued detention, though investigations into the large‑scale cultivation continue.

In a separate case, the Tribunal Colegiado of Las Matas de Farfán sentenced Francis Montero García to 10 years in prison for trafficking roughly 20 pounds of marijuana that had been discovered during a military checkpoint inspection. The conviction was based on evidence presented by the public prosecutor and the defendants was ordered to serve the sentence in the San Juan de la Maguana public prison.