THE Dominican drug lord allegedly tied to the nearly fatal shooting of former Boston Red Sox star, David Ortiz, is now in the custody of US authorities.
César Emilio “El Abusador” Peralta was extradited from Columbia Wednesday to Puerto Rico, where he is facing drug trafficking charges.
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Peralta is described as “the king of the streets, the king of the clubs and the biggest shark in the water” by former high-ranking CIA official Ric Prado.
He is accused of leading an organization based in the Dominican Republic that received multiple cocaine shipments from Colombia and Venezuela, according to authorities.
The drug was transported to Puerto Rico and the US for distribution, according to officials.
“This arrest and extradition underscore the collaboration and cooperation between our law enforcement partners, as well as our commitment and resolve to combat transnational organized crime,” said US Attorney W Stephen Muldrow in a statement.
A federal jury in Puerto Rico had already indicted Peralta in November 2018. He was charged with conspiring to import heroin and cocaine into the US and distributing five or more kilos of the drug for importation in the US.
Peralta was ordered to forfeit four properties, including three nightclubs and one business in the Dominican Republic.
He was also sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act on August 20, 2019, which forced him to go into hiding.
Peralta Feld to Colombia on a yacht but had allegedly planned to flee to Panama in an effort to evade capture before police barged into his apartment and captured him, the Daily Mail reports.
Over 50 properties were raided in the search effort to find Peralta. A team of more than 700 people with court orders searched discos, restaurants, shops and apartments looking for him.
The drug lord had also been tied to the shooting of David Ortiz by Dominican authorities. The shooting occurred in a lounge in Santo Domingo on June 9, 2019.
Surveillance footage captured the baseball legend and his friends sitting around a sidewalk table when a gunman opened fire on Ortiz at point-blank range.
The bullet had entered Ortiz’s back and exited his stomach. He was rushed to the hospital while video appeared to show Peralta walking outside the medical facility.
Nicknamed “Big Papi”, Ortiz played in the MLB for 20 seasons before his 2016 retirement.
Peralta denied his involvement in the shooting, saying that Ortiz is “like my brother.”
“We were neighbors for four years. I have never been with one of David’s women and David was never involved with any of mine,” he said.
“When David comes from out there [the US] he brings me my perfume, my gift, my sneakers. David is crazy with my children. My children love him.”
An investigation suggested that Peralta had felt disrespected by Ortiz, prompting him to put a bounty on the athlete’s head.
“Peralta said he had David shot,” said former Boston police commissioner Ed Davis in an interview.
If convicted, Peralta faces between 10 years to life in prison.
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