John McAfee says he's been released from detention in Dominican Republic
Millionaire anti-virus software founder John McAfee said Wednesday that he was released from detention in the Dominican Republic. A spokesman for McAfee's 2020 campaign tweeted earlier this week that McAfee was being detained and threatened to release data hidden by McAfee if he did not check in.
The Caribbean island's armed forces and public ministry told The Associated Press earlier Wednesday that McAfee was taken into custody along with U.S. citizens Elizabeth McAfee and Richard Alan Gibson, Robert Whitfield of Germany, Oral Thompson of The Bahamas and Vasner Louis of Haiti. They were suspected of traveling on a yacht carrying high-caliber weapons, ammunition and military-style gear.
McAfee tweeted Wednesday that he was leaving detention. Janice McAfee replied, "Glad to be out of 'detention.' We're safe and on our way to the airport. Thank GOD!"
Leaving detention (don't judge my looks - four days of confinement). I was well treated. My superiors were friendly and helpful. In spite of the helpful circumstances, we've decided to move on. More later. pic.twitter.com/V4539uYCHR
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) July 24, 2019
For the past few days, McAfee's Twitter account has been run by campaign manager Rob Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Loggia-Ramirez. Loggia-Ramirez tweeted from McAfee's account Tuesday that "if John misses his next check-in, events will be set into motion that I cannot prevent once they have begun. John has secreted data with individuals across the world. I know neither their identities or locations. They will release their payloads if John goes missing."
Loggia-Ramirez told CNET he has no more information about the detainment, but that he and others are "employing every possible resource to locate him and secure his release."
McAfee's account tweeted last week his "only crime is not filing tax returns" and "the rest is propaganda by the U.S. government to silence me."
McAfee has been on the run related to a 2012 murder in Belize. He's claimed that he's running for president on a cryptocurrency platform and has developed an "unhackable" cryptocurrency wallet.