Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – The Dominican Republic’s vice presidency has moved forward with a key cross-border justice agreement, after acting executive head Raquel Peña signed three official decrees greenlighting the extradition of three Dominican nationals to the United States to face outstanding criminal charges.
The approval, formalized through Decrees 716-26, 717-26 and 718-26, covers three individuals linked to separate, unrelated criminal cases in U.S. jurisdictions. The first person, Darío Bautista, is named in an August 2025 indictment handed down by the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. Federal prosecutors there accuse Bautista of participating in a conspiracy to smuggle five kilograms or more of cocaine into U.S. territory, a charge that carries severe federal penalties if convicted.
The second individual, Ramón Joaquín Romero Bastardo, faces far more violent criminal charges in a New York state court. His case originated in October 2024 at the Supreme Court of New York, Bronx County, where he has been indicted on a raft of counts including second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree assault, and fourth-degree unlawful weapons possession.
The third subject of the extradition orders, Luis Arismendy Paca Méndez, is linked to a white-collar criminal case out of the Eastern District of New York. A February 2026 superseding indictment issued by that district’s federal court charges him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, a common federal offense involving schemes to defraud victims through electronic communications.
Peña authorized all three extradition requests during her tenure as acting head of the Dominican Republic’s Executive Branch, a temporary role that grants her the full authority of the presidency to sign official decrees and carry out executive functions. The action follows the Dominican Republic’s long-standing extradition treaty with the United States, which allows for the transfer of individuals wanted on serious criminal charges to face trial in U.S. courts.