The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) supervisor assigned to the Dominican Republic, Meliton Cordero, has been arrested on charges of bribery and visa fraud, according to the Associated Press (AP). The arrest has prompted the U.S. government to close the DEA office in the Caribbean nation.
According to a criminal complaint, Cordero allegedly accepted $10,000 in cash from a music promoter to expedite visa appointments at the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic. Rather than the typical years-long wait, a visa appointment could allegedly be secured in as little as two weeks.
Prosecutors say that Cordero leveraged his position inside the U.S. Embassy to push visa applications forward, falsely claiming that the applicants were valuable law-enforcement sources. Investigators found that Cordero submitted or approved nearly 120 visa referrals during his posting, which consular officials told investigators was an extraordinarily high number.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro released a video accusing Cordero of subverting the White House’s immigration agenda, adding that some of the individuals he helped may not even be eligible for entry into the U.S. Pirro stated, “When you sell out our country, and when you do it with a badge, you need to remember that we are going to find you and don’t think that if you’re outside the continental United States that we’re not going to know what you’re doing.”
DEA Administrator Terry Cole sent a message reassuring the agency’s staff that the closure would be temporary and that he would safeguard the agency’s reputation. Cole wrote, “Misuse of public office for personal benefit will not be tolerated. Conduct that calls our integrity into question undermines the trust that makes our mission possible. We will act decisively to protect that trust.”
Homeland Security Investigations agents first caught wind of Cordero’s alleged misconduct through a former embassy employee who worked in a visa consulting business, according to the complaint. In 2024, the former employee was approached by a local music promoter who provided Cordero’s email address, boasting that the “connection” inside the embassy could reduce wait times for a visa appointment to as little as two weeks for $10,000.
In December, investigators developed a sting operation using a confidential source who filed a visa application and waited. WhatsApp messages showed the promoter forwarded a passport photo to a contact saved as “Milito Clara” with a number investigators tied to Cordero’s embassy phone. Cordero then submitted an official visa referral under another DEA agent’s name, describing the applicant as a “valued contact” who assisted U.S. drug-trafficking investigations, claims the source told investigators were completely fabricated.
On January 27, the source, working at the direction of law enforcement, was told to bring the remaining $7,000 to the parking lot of a supermarket in Santo Domingo. Surveillance teams watched as the source entered a black Toyota Prado and exited with his passport containing a U.S. visa. Embassy security cameras captured Cordero leaving the compound in the same SUV just before the meeting. HSI investigator Robert Tansey stated in an affidavit that the source later identified Cordero in a photo lineup.