 Panama-Guide.com - The police in the Dominican Republic revealed today the true identity of the man who was extradited to Panama last month for his alleged involvement in the deaths of five citizens of Chinese origin, and said he escaped from a prison in the country in 2004 after he was imprisoned for kidnapping a Chinese merchant. The true name of Fermín Antonio Taveras Ramírez, who also used the name of Angel Betancurt, is Gilberto Ventura Ceballos, who managed to obtain documents such as passports and identity cards in the other two names. Police said in a statement they obtained the data "after a thorough investigation" conducted in coordination with the Central Electoral Board (JCE), which is in charge of the local registrar.
The archives of the institution reflect that the defendant escaped from prison in Najayo, in the province of San Cristobal (in the Southern part of the Dominican Republic), on 30 November 2004, a month after he was arrested and brought to justice for the kidnapping of Wonny Ho Wong, a Chinese merchant, for whose rescue his family paid 1.5 million pesos (almost $39,000 at current exchange rates). In this case the former National Army Sergeant Fernando Carela Trinidad was also brought to justice, according to the entity.
Gilberto Ventura Ceballos was also taken to court in January 2003 for allegedly defrauding 8,000 pesos (just over $200) from the owners of a school by posing as an inspector from the Social Security Institute.
The police said they are conducting further research to determine what assistance the defendant had received to try to outwit the authorities, and in the next few hours they will provide greater details of the case.
The man was caught last month in the sector of Andres, in Boca Chica, about 30 kilometers east of Santo Domingo, submerged inside of a tank filled with water to try to evade police pursuit.
Ventura Ceballos is involved in multiple murders, in which on 15 September 2011 the other Dominican José Alcibiades Méndez was arrested in Panama, who apparently buried the bodies of their five victims under the floor of a residence in La Chorrera, Panama. The death of the five victims, murdered between 2010 and 2011, caused a stir in La Chorrera, where several thousand people marched in September to repudiate the kidnapping and murder. (Dia a Dia)
Editor's Comment: These are the guys who kidnapped and murdered five college students in an attempt to be paid ransom for their release. The Panamanian police basically botched the investigation. The suspects were not identified until the families of the victims themselves were able to find a surveillance videotape of one of the suspects buying red plastic bags in a store, that they were used to identify the location where the ransom money was supposed to be paid.
Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli said via his Twitter account: "Felicitamos a Alvaro Alvarado porque por el pudimos capturar al peligroso dominicano acusado supuestamente de asesinar 5 chorreranos." (We congratulate Alvaro Alvarado because thanks to him we were able to capture the dangerous Dominican accused of allegedly assassinating 5 people from La Chorrera......
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