Private investigation concludes that a drug trafficker ordered the attack against David Ortiz in 2019

boston- A Dominican drug trafficker who was jealous of David Ortiz and that he felt the former slugger had disrespected him led to him being shot at a Dominican nightclub in 2019, according to private investigators the Red Sox slugger hired to investigate the attack that nearly killed him.

The findings by former Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, reported by the Boston Globe on Saturday, contradict the crime theory developed by Dominican prosecutors.

Davis told the newspaper that he identified drug trafficker Cesar Peralta as the one who orchestrated the shooting by posting a bounty on Ortiz. Dominican authorities did not cooperate with the private investigation.

Peralta is being held without bond in Puerto Rico on unrelated charges of conspiracy to import cocaine and heroin. The US Treasury designated Peralta as a drug lord in 2019 and he was extradited to the US in December.

Ortiz’s spokesman, Joe Baerlein, told the Globe that Davis’s findings were withheld by Ortiz’s security until Peralta was in US custody.

Peralta has not been charged in connection with Ortiz’s shooting. Peralta’s attorney, Joaquín Pérez, said that Peralta had nothing to do with the attempt on Ortiz’s life.

“As bad as Cesar Peralta is, he’s not even close to being in the ballpark to say he had anything to do with this,” Perez said.

Pérez described Ortiz and Peralta as “close friends.” Ortiz told The Globe that he knew Peralta only casually and was “sad, confused, angry, with all kinds of emotions” when he got the news from Davis and Ric Prado, a former high-ranking CIA official who was involved. on the research.

Dominican authorities have said the target was Sixto David Fernández, who was sharing a table with Ortiz when he was shot. Authorities said the gunmen confused Fernandez with Ortiz, one of the most popular Dominican baseball players in history.