SANTO DOMINGO. José David Figueroa Augusto, known as the “Junior Chapel,” was one of the most notorious drug traffickers in recent Caribbean history, controlling a huge drug trafficking gang that left Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic in particular. His criminal career, marked by spectacular escapes, international drug operations, a life in the city and his life, ended in 2010 with his capture in Puerto Rico, but his destiny continued through studio and controversy motifs until his death.

Figueroa August began his criminal career in the decade of the 1990s and quickly became a key figure in drug trafficking in the Caribbean. His organization controlled 90% of the drug trafficking from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, operating like a gangster known as “Pablo Escobar del Caribe”. At its peak, it estimated that its red traffic reached around three million cocaine counters from Colombia in Puerto Rico between 2000 and 2001, based on the publication “Insight Crime”.

This Monday Figueroa was made public with an appearance on the Alofoke Radio Show program and announced that he was in the publication of a book.

Her influence does not limit drug trafficking; Figueroa recently lived a life of luxury in the Dominican Republic, using false identities and sometimes using plastic bags to avoid capture. This is the ability to evade authorities and makes her one of the Caribbean’s fugitive hunters.

Cronología de un empire en declive

• 4 September 2009: The National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) and the National District Fiscal Office announced the dismantling of 4.6 million dollars in one year in the La Esperilla sector of Santo Domingo. This was the beginning of the year for Figueroa Agosto and the Red.
• 6 September 2009: Sobeida Félix Morel, sentimental compañera of Figueroa Agosto, was some time before the prison arrest and joined a series of arrests and trials that ended with the abolition of the Red Capo.
• 7 November 2009: Sobeida Félix stated that the bailiff revoked her freedom under engagement. There was a big scandal in the Dominican Republic and I proved the contacts of Figueroa August’s organization with the authorities.
• July 11, 2010: José David Figueroa was finally captured in Loíza, Puerto Rico, where he had been pursued by the authorities for a decade. I was arrested because I had the intention of concealing my identity with a head.
• 2012: Figueroa August was found guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced to 30 years in prison in the United States. However, in 2020, I was released just 10 years after her graduation, as controversy and speculation about her influence continued.