Globe: International Drug Lord César Peralta Ordered Hit On David Ortiz(Why? "A Buildup Of Perceived Slights And Jealousies" Is (For Now) Investigators' Best Guess)

An explosive report from the Globe's Bob Hohler details a "brazen alleged murder conspiracy" by international drug lord César "The Abuser" Peralta to assassinate Red Sox icon and Hall of Famer David Ortiz.

Former Boston police commissioner Ed Davis was hired by Ortiz to investigate the 2019 shooting. Davis's six-month investigation, in which he was aided by Ric Prado, a former high-ranking CIA official, states that Perlata believed Ortiz had disrespected him so he put a bounty on Ortiz's head and sanctioned the 2019 assassination attempt.

Peralta's lawyer says Peralta "had nothing to do with" the attempt on Ortiz's life and described the two men as "close friends". Ortiz denies having anything other than a casual relationship with Peralta; they lived in the same apartment building for a period of time and Ortiz frequented some clubs that were owned by Peralta. Davis's investigation found "no evidence that Ortiz engaged in any type of business with Peralta or knew him more than incidentally", according to the Globe.

Ortiz was "sad, confused, angry, all kinds of emotions" when Davis told him what he had found.

I accept what Ed and Ric are telling me, but how come no one in the Dominican justice system has told me this is how it went down? Instead, it's the opposite.

From Hohler's article:

Davis's findings contradict narratives presented by Dominican law enforcement officials. They first alleged that an unspecified person with an unknown motive placed a bounty on Ortiz. They quickly abandoned the theory, however, and chalked up the shooting to a case of mistaken identity, without ever implicating Peralta. . . .

Thirteen suspects are awaiting trial in the case . . . [which] Dominican authorities allege [was a hit on] Ortiz's friend, Sixto David Fernández, because he was considered an informant. The gunman, however, mistook Ortiz for Fernández, Dominican prosecutors allege — a theory widely ridiculed because the two bear little resemblance. . . .

Ortiz hired Davis in 2019 partly because he was concerned about the integrity of the Dominican investigation under Jean Alain Rodríguez, the attorney general at the time. Rodríguez has since been jailed on public corruption charges unrelated to Peralta. . . .

Peralta, 47, is currently being held without bail in Puerto Rico, facing charges of conspiracy to import cocaine and heroin. . . .

Peralta was a fugitive from the US charges when Ortiz was shot. Yet he was thriving in plain sight in Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital, where he owned many high-end nightclubs and restaurants and a money exchange. US authorities allege he used the businesses to launder drug money and employ women he trafficked from South America.

The FBI stated in a 2018 affidavit that Peralta's international trafficking network generated millions of dollars, some of which he used to bribe Dominican national police and government officials to avoid arrest, prosecution, and narcotics seizures.

The US Treasury, in designating Peralta a drug kingpin in 2019, said he and "his criminal organization have used violence and corruption in the Dominican Republic to traffic tons of cocaine and opioids into the United States and Europe." . . .

Davis, Boston's police commissioner from 2006-13, said his investigation developed troubling information from a Trinitarios [a violent Dominican street gang] cell in Lawrence soon after Ortiz was shot.

"It was well known in the gang that they wanted to kill Ortiz," Davis said. . . .

[P]recisely why Peralta may have felt so disrespected that he would order Ortiz slain remains murky. Davis said Dominican law enforcement refused to cooperate with his investigation [as did Jean Alain Rodríguez] . . .

Davis said his findings are based mainly on intelligence from US law enforcement sources and Prado's investigation in the Dominican Republic. . . . [They] learned that Peralta's hold on powerful Dominican officials was pervasive. . . .

Davis and Prado allege that Peralta's motive for the Ortiz shooting likely was a buildup of perceived slights and jealousies. . . .

In 2015, Ortiz staged a birthday party at the Aqua Club in Santo Domingo, which Peralta owned and which US authorities later identified as one of Peralta's alleged money-laundering enterprises. Ortiz said he did not know at the time that Peralta owned the club.

After Ortiz retired in 2016, he increasingly frequented the Santo Domingo night scene. Some of the more upscale popular clubs were owned by Peralta, who often exchanged greetings with Ortiz and on occasion posed for a photo with him, Ortiz said.

But the more Peralta watched Ortiz become the center of attention at his clubs, Prado said, the more jealous he became of Ortiz's celebrity.

Ortiz and Peralta also lived for a time in the same luxury condominium building in Santo Domingo, the Naco Blue Tower, Ortiz one floor below Peralta. Ortiz moved into the tower before Peralta and said he moved out "because it was too obvious there were a lot of weird-looking people going into the building, and I wasn't feeling comfortable." . . .

What's more, Prado said, the building came to be known on the streets as "the Big Papi Tower," which may have further rankled Peralta. At 5 feet 5 inches, Peralta stands nearly a foot shorter than Ortiz.

"Like other big-time hoods, Peralta's ego is so big that he could not afford to have his power usurped," said Prado, who recently authored a memoir, Black Ops: The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior. . . .

There was speculation, too, that Ortiz was romantically involved with Peralta's wife or girlfriend, which Ortiz adamantly denied in the interview. . . .

"Even if there was no affair, just the fact that one of Peralta's women was attracted to David or was flirting with him, that could be seen by Peralta as an affront," Prado said. . . .

Davis and Prado agree with Dominican prosecutors that the hit squad initially was assembled to eliminate Fernández. . . .

Fernández was among more than a half-dozen men seated with Ortiz around front-row tables on the outdoor patio at the Dial Bar in Santo Domingo . . .

As Ortiz sat before a glass of Scotch, the gunman walked up from behind and fired a single round into his back, sending him sprawling. The bullet also pierced Lopez's leg. Fernández escaped unscathed, by the grace of a firearm malfunction, Davis said.

[A frame-by-frame analysis of surveillance footage] revealed that after the gunman shot Ortiz, he pointed the Browning Hi-Power 9mm semiautomatic pistol at Fernández's face and pulled the trigger. But the weapon misfired, a round still lodged in the chamber.

Davis and Prado said the analysis showed the assailant tried a second time to clear the chamber, and when that failed, he fled.

"His intent was obvious," Prado said: The gunman was trying to shoot both Ortiz and Fernández; there was no mistaken identity. . . .

[Ortiz says he is] an innocent victim who has been wrongly suspected of engaging in behavior that invited an attack that caused him immeasurable physical and emotional trauma.

Ortiz travels with security now. He has fully recovered from a fourth surgery last year related to the shooting . . . [and he] yearns to know why anyone might want him dead . . .