John, Lovensky and Lonelson Nalus, brothers from Delray Beach, Florida, were arrested in Santo Domingo in August 2020 after a mechanic fixing their rental car said he found a package of marijuana in the engine compartment and accused them of drug trafficking.[1] Police arrested all five men who had been travelling in the rental car, including the three brothers.[1] All five were jailed, and the family says they were held for nearly a year.[1] The Haitian Times reported that three of the detained men were the brothers who live in Delray Beach and that the arrests took place on 2 August 2020.[2]

Travel Noire reported that the brothers say a four-pound package of marijuana was planted in their white Hyundai Tucson rental car and that video footage obtained by the Miami Herald and the McClatchy Washington Bureau shows someone placing a brown package under the car while they waited for a tow truck.[3] A months-long CBS12 News investigation found that prosecutors presented no evidence of the brothers’ guilt and that even some officers at the arrest conceded the drugs may not have been theirs.[1] In interviews in cell phone videos of the arrest, the brothers repeatedly said the drugs were not theirs.[1] A Dominican police officer, Eduardo Pulinario, confirmed to CBS12 News that a mechanic found the package of suspected drugs near the transmission and said it was possible the drugs had been in the engine compartment before the young men rented the car.[1]

After months of rescheduled court dates, some of which prosecutors did not attend according to the family, a Dominican court returned the brothers’ passports, and John and Lovensky arrived at Fort Lauderdale International Airport on 15 July 2021.[1] Lonelson stayed in the Dominican Republic in case of further court dates, and the charges were not officially dropped.[1] The James Foley Foundation, which assists Americans wrongly imprisoned abroad, added the brothers to its website and placed the Dominican Republic on a list of countries wrongfully detaining Americans.[1] John, who missed a college soccer scholarship while detained, said he did not regret the people he met and family he saw but regretted a trip of eight days that turned into a year.[1]