Wander Franco's sex abuse trial has been postponed 5 months

PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic (AP) — The trial against Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who has been charged with sexually abusing a minor, sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking, was postponed on Thursday and scheduled to resume June 2, 2025. ...

MLB star Wander Franco's sex abuse trial in the Dominican Republic has been postponed until June 2, 2025

Wander Franco trial: Rays star faces sexual abuse, human trafficking charges in Dominican Republic

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco is scheduled to go to trial Thursday in the Dominican Republic in a sexual abuse case involving a 14-year-old girl. Now 23, Franco was having an All-Star season in 2023 before Dominican authorities began investigating allegations he had been in...

Dominican Republic seizes 9.5 tons of cocaine, marking a new record

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Authorities in the Dominican Republic announced Friday that they confiscated nearly 9.5 tons of cocaine, the largest drug seizure in the country’s history. The $250 million worth of drugs were found nestled inside a banana shipment that...

Shoplifting ring stole $2M in cosmetics and clothes then resold them abroad, prosecutors say

NEW YORK (AP) — A shoplifting ring that stole nearly $2 million in clothes and beauty products from Macy’s and other well-known stores in the U.S. and then resold them in New York City and the Dominican Republic has been busted, law enforcement officials announced Tuesday. Five...

Dominican Republic says colonel and officers stole police weapons and ammunition to sell to Haitians

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Authorities in the Dominican Republic have arrested a colonel and nine officers accused of stealing weapons and ammunition from the police department’s armory and illegally selling them to people including criminals in neighboring Haiti, where violence...

Wander Franco charged with illegally carrying a gun in the altercation that led to his arrest

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco was charged with illegally carrying a gun in his vehicle during the altercation in a parking lot that led to his arrest in the Dominican Republic over the weekend, prosecutors said Tuesday. The attorney...

Haitian activists demand halt to deportations as gang violence and poverty soar

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian activists on Thursday demanded that other countries temporarily stop deportations to their country due to a surge in gang violence and deepening poverty. Tens of thousands of people have been deported to Haiti in the past month, mostly from the...

Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine is detained in New York on parole violation claims

NEW YORK (AP) — Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine tried unsuccessfully Tuesday to persuade a federal judge not to send him to jail, calling him “bro” and insisting he never meant to violate the terms of his probation from a felony conviction. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer in Manhattan ordered...

Dominican Republic starts mass deportations of Haitians and expels nearly 11,000 in a week

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The Dominican Republic said Tuesday it has deported or repatriated nearly 11,000 Haitians in the past week, fulfilling a pledge to do so weekly as neighboring Haiti scrambles to handle the influx while besieged by gang violence and poverty. ...