Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief Goods in Dumpster! (Video)

0

This is video circulating on social media of Puerto Rico hurricane relief supplies being found in a dumpster. The food and water were provided to the island by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

The video was taken in Patillas, a municipality of Puerto Rico located on the southeastern coast.

The Spanish-speaking man is Puerto Rico’s Secretary of State Luis G. Rivera Marín. He stands inside a large garbage dumpster, picking through the jugs of water and boxes of ready-to-eat meals. He notes that each box contains a dozen RTE meals.

He says the mishandling of relief goods was negligent, even criminal, and he has called to task the town mayor for leaving the donations exposed to rats and bugs.

Norberto Soto Figueroa is the town mayor; he says the supplies ended up in the dumpster because they were rained on and so were thus disposed.

As early as October 12, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been seeking public assistance about misappropriation of emergency funds in Puerto Rico.

SAN JUAN, PR—Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Douglas A. Leff, of the FBI San Juan Field Office, announced the following:

“The FBI has received numerous complaints of mishandling and misappropriation of emergency supplies provided by the federal government for the people of Puerto Rico, by local government officials. We are working to quickly determine any basis for criminal charges against any public official who would abuse their office and the people of Puerto Rico in this manner.”

In order to help us present all available evidence to federal and state prosecutors, anyone with information, pictures, recordings, or any other material that relates to this type of conduct is asked to call 1-800-CALLFBI(1-800-225-5324).