Investigator says narco ordered attack on David Ortiz

BOSTON (AP) — A drug lord in the Dominican Republic jealous of David Ortiz and who had felt disrespected by the baseball player ordered an attack on him at a night establishment in 2019, according to private investigators hired by the slugger to investigate the attack that almost cost him his life.

The findings by former Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, published Saturday by the Boston Globe newspaper, contradict the theory of crime presented by Dominican prosecutors.

Davis told the newspaper that he identified drug trafficker Cesar Peralta as the brains of the attack by placing a reward on Ortiz's head and ordering that a group of hit men kill him. Dominican authorities did not cooperate with the private investigation.

Peralta is being held without bail in Puerto Rico and faces charges — not related to the Ortiz case — of conspiracy to import cocaine and heroin. The U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Peralta as a drug lord in 2019 and he was extradited to the United States in December.

Ortiz spokesman Joe Baerlein told Boston Globes that Davis's findings were kept in reserve to safeguard Ortiz's safety until Peralta was in federal custody.

Peralta hasn't been charged in the shooting of Ortiz. Peralta's lawyer, Joaquín Pérez, said that Peralta had nothing to do with the attempt on Ortiz's life.

“As much as Cesar Peralta may be, he doesn't have the remotest link to this,” Perez said.

Perez described Ortiz and Peralta as “close friends”. Ortiz assured the Boston Globe that he knew Peralta casually and that he reacted “sad, confused, angry, with all kinds of emotions” when he heard the report of Davis and Ric Prado, a former senior CIA official who participated in the investigation.

Dominican authorities claim that the target of the attack was Sixto David Fernández, who shared a table with Ortiz when he was shot. Authorities say the hit men mistook Fernández for Ortiz.

Thirteen people have been charged with the shooting and are awaiting trial in the Dominican Republic.

Baerlein said that Ortiz is waiting to follow the legal process in the Dominican and United States courts to clarify what happened.

Ten times' All-Star ', Ortiz was one of the pillars for the Red Sox to break an 86-year drought without winning the World Series in 2004. He was also the Most Valuable Player of the 2013 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

“Big Papi” retired after the 2016 campaign, with a total of 541 career home runs, and Boston retired its 34th. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in January after his first year on the ballot.

Ortiz maintains a residence in Boston and spends part of the year in the Dominican Republic. He was seriously injured after being shot on 9 June 2019. Doctors in his native country had to remove his gallbladder and part of his intestine after the shooting, and he underwent other surgeries in the United States.

Ortiz told the Boston Globe that he wants to establish because they wanted to kill him, but “the most important thing is to thank God that I am alive.”