http://svitlanabuchyk.com/
http://theothermccain.com/2013/02/04/svitlana-buchyk-mystery-woman-in-menendez-hookergate-scandal/
Svitlana Buchyk: Mystery Woman in Menendez HookerGate Scandal
Posted on | February 4, 2013
Matthew Boyle of Breitbart.com just published a photo of a woman who reportedly “worked” for Dr. Salomon Melgen, the Palm Beach opthamologist at the center of the scandal surrounding embattled Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). Melgen’s office was raided by the FBI last week, amid accusations that Menendez attended “wild sex parties” with prostitutes during trips to the Dominican Republic provided by Melgen.
The Russian-born woman, Svitlana Buchyk, figures prominently in the prostitution accusations against the scandal-plagued Menendez, who is in line to become chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
http://dominicanwatchdog.org/page-Huge_drug_ring_shipping_tons_of_cocaine_from_Casa_de_Campo_busted
Huge drug ring shipping tons of cocaine from Casa de Campo - Bought from Cali Cartel
DominicanToday.com - The National Drugs Control Agency (DNCD) yesterday busted an international drug trafficking ring based in the country’s icon resort Casa de Campo, La Romana (east), seized 122 kilos of cocaine on a boat headed to Puerto Rico.
It arrested 29 people, among them five Puerto Ricans and 17 Russians, the latter the crew of a ship where the drug would’ve been shipped and one Dominican and one Colombian.
What I find interesting is the Russian connection to the drug traffiking . Here we have a Russian party girl with Melgen who makes trips between DR and Peurto Rico... Also the Caso de Campo connection with the russianshttp://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/07/17/mexican-cartels-russian-mob-operating-in-dr-govt-says/Mexican Cartels, Russian Mob Operating in D.R., Gov't Says Published July 17, 2012
The rise in drug consumption and trafficking in the Dominican Republic in recent years is due to the country's geographical location,
the penetration of broad swaths of society by the illegal drug trade and the operations of Mexican drug cartels and the Russian mob, an adviser to the government on anti-drug policy, Marino Castillo, said.
"We have the entry of the worst traditional organized crime groups, such as the Russians, and agressive cartels, like Mexico's Sinaloa and Los Zetas, (into the country)," Castillo said in a statement. Nearly 300,000 young people are now addicted to drugs in the Dominican Republic as a result of the arrival in the country of international drug trafficking organizations, Castillo said.
The illegal drug trade has made progress in the country due to its infiltration of the armed forces, police, political parties, business, banking and the real estate industry, Castillo said.
...
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-112shrg73934/html/CHRG-112shrg73934.htm THE U.S.-CARIBBEAN SHARED SECURITY PARTNERSHIP: RESPONDING TO THE
GROWTH OF TRAFFICKING AND NARCOTICS IN THE CARIBBEAN
DECEMBER 15, 2011
...
Mr. Benson. We have seen the trafficking organizations shift. We have seen them use air. We have addressed that
threat. Then we see go-fast boat activity.
We have seen as well innovative approaches such as semisubmersible submarines.
Senator Rubio. I guess my point is they are not using Jacksonville, FL, or other places, nor do I want them to, by
the way. But my point is that they are not using these places for a reason. Is there some specific vulnerability in Puerto
Rico's capabilities that they are exploiting? And at the end of the day, is that a resource problem that needs to be addressed?
Do they just not have good resources on the island to deal with some of these law enforcement----
Mr. Benson. I mean, I could get back to you with a number on the staffing level of the Puerto Rican state police.
Senator Rubio. Yes, please.
Mr. Benson. Our staffing has been constant over the last several years. So that really has not--we have kept our full
complement of resources throughout the Caribbean.
Senator Rubio. I guess the last point I would make is if this criminal activity were happening in Jacksonville people
would be screaming about it right now. I just want to make sure from not just the administration but from the congressional
perspective that we are paying just as much attention to it because Puerto Rico is a domestic responsibility of ours. It is
not another country. And so I want to make sure that we are giving it the attention it deserves both resourcewise and
publicly. So I look forward to exploring with your office what we can do on our end on the congressional level to ensure that
we are providing them the resources they need to address this problem.
Thank you.
Senator Menendez. Thank you, Senator Rubio.
I have another round of questions here.
I am particularly concerned within the context of the Caribbean about the Dominican Republic, and I would like to ask
Mr. Benson to help us understand what is happening. I am particularly concerned about the substantial increase in
narcotics consumption and trafficking in the DR, as well as the presence of international crime syndicates reportedly,
including Mexican and Colombian cartels, as well as mafia-affiliated entities from Venezuela, Russia, and even Albania. In just the last few weeks, there have been reports from France and Puerto Rico documenting significant finds of narcotics
coming from the DR. Can you comment for the committee on the growth in the narcotics trade in the DR, how it is entering and leaving the
country, what effect corruption has on our ability to address this growing problem and reform the police? So let us start
with an oversight on the Dominican Republic.
Mr. Benson. Senator, the Dominican Republic, as we look at it from a targeting point of view, plays a major role as a
transshipment point for those drug trafficking organizations.
We see loads of cocaine and heroin moving up into the Dominican Republic. We saw utilization of aircraft. We see go-fast boat
activity bringing loads of cocaine. We see containerized cargo moving up into the DR. It is still probably the most
significant transit point for criminal organizations to take those loads of cocaine and then we see it move from that point
to the United States.
We see also significant loads of cocaine leave the Dominican Republic and also then move to Europe as
well. So it is a critical spot for us to work with our counterparts in the Dominican Republic from a targeting
strategy point of view, and we do that every day.
There are issues of corruption in the Dominican Republic, and then there is also great partnerships and counterparts that
we work with every day to get the job done.
Our targeting strategy there is effective. One thing we are trying to do is build throughout the Caribbean additional
information and intelligence exchange with all of the nations there in Caribbean to build that more robust targeting
approach, and that is how we see us going forward in the future from DEA looking at the Dominican Republic, Haiti as well, with
the overall goal of dismantling those criminal organizations.
Senator Menendez. When you and I spoke--and you mentioned this in your response to Senator Rubio's previous question--you
talked about submersibles. Could you expound upon that? It seems to be a relatively new but growing mechanism that they
are using to try to ship drugs to the United States.
Mr. Benson. We clearly see drug trafficking organizations changing their tactics in response to the successful operations
that we have. So they have, over the period of the last few years, begun to utilize semisubmersible submarines, fully
submersible submarines as well, to transport larger quantities of cocaine being constructed in South America and then being
utilized to move narcotics up into Central America and Mexico.
Senator Menendez. Now, I read just a few days ago the statements of one of the Presidential candidates in the
Dominican Republic who stated, ``We are at the risk of converting ourselves into a narcostate,'' and then went on to
cite a series of cases which are pretty alarming if they, in fact, are true, and maybe, Ambassador Brownfield, you can help
us with this as well as Mr. Benson. He cites the cases of former army captain, Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo, who
operated within the military structure, recalling that the navy had guided and transported drug shipments instead of protecting
the marine frontier.
He also spoke about someone--and maybe, Mr. Benson, you could help us with this, as well as Ambassador Brownfield--Jose
David Figueroa Agosto having an ID card from DNA, which is Dominican National Intelligence, and was supposedly guarded by
police colonels, as well as having official license plates. Those are just some of a series of examples that have existed.