Raids at Manatí CESCO, other agencies said related to schemes to erase fines

Officials declined to comment, but the STAR learned through sources that the probe has to do with alleged schemes by driver services employees to erase traffic fines and issue fraudulent driver’s licenses and motor vehicle registrations.

By The Star Staff

Special Investigations Bureau (NIE by its Spanish initials) agents on Tuesday executed six search warrants at the Driver Services Center (CESCO by its Spanish acronym) in Manatí, at an inspection center in Barceloneta and at various agencies in Vega Baja, Manatí and Ciales.

Officials declined to comment. The STAR learned through sources that the probe has to do with alleged schemes by employees to erase traffic fines and issue fraudulent driver’s licenses as well as motor vehicle registrations. One of the sources said the raids also had to do with the issuance of fraudulent inspections for stolen vehicles.

The secretaries of Justice and Public Safety, Domingo Emanuelli Hernández and Alexis Torres, respectively, and interim NIE Commissioner Melissa Rodríguez Roth, confirmed that the search warrants are the result of a joint investigation between the NIE and the Economic Crimes Division of the Justice Department, led by prosecutor Rodney Ríos Medina.

The search warrants were issued by San Juan Superior Court Judge Ilyana Blanco Maldonado. Institute of Forensic Sciences workers are participating in the warrants using documentary and digital evidence.

“As this is an ongoing investigation, no further comment will be issued,” the officials said in a statement.

The Department of Transportation and Public Works is also collaborating with the investigation.