Puerto Rico’s Police Bureau reported Wednesday that officers from the Intelligence and Arrests Division of the Utuado area arrested René J. Vélez Cruz, 33, a resident of Ciales, on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 20. Vélez Cruz appeared on the police area’s ten-most-wanted list and faced an arrest warrant carrying a total bail of $150,000 for alleged violations of the Controlled Substances Act and the Metals Registry Act.
The arrest was carried out as part of efforts to locate and detain people on the region’s most-wanted list, though police did not specify the circumstances of his location or details of the alleged offenses. After the arrest, Vélez Cruz was brought before Judge Alba Calderón Cestero of the Arecibo court, who read him his legal warnings.
According to authorities, he did not post the $150,000 bail and was admitted to a correctional institution in Bayamón, where he will remain while the judicial process continues, until his preliminary hearing. Police did not say when that hearing is scheduled, and no additional information was released about the evidence related to the alleged violations.
The investigation was handled by agent Kevin Camacho Feliciano, supervised by Sergeant Miguel Vargas Malavé and directed by Lieutenant Harry Rosado Rivera, director of Utuado’s Intelligence and Arrests Division.