The Dominican National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD, in Spanish) and the Dominican Armed Forces have strengthened operations against human trafficking, money laundering, and narcotrafficking.
On September 16, 2020, the National Police led four simultaneous raids in different parts of the country to dismantle a human trafficking and money laundering network. Authorities released several Colombian and Venezuelan women who were presumed victims of sexual exploitation, detained three gang members and their leader, and seized more than $200,000, seven vehicles, weapons, and drugs, the Police reported.
In another operation in San Francisco de Macorís municipality, Duarte province, on September 7, the General Attorney’s Office for Specialized Anti-Money Laundering and the DNCD seized nearly $114,000 in different currencies, three 9-millimeter pistols, and dozens of checks and personal documents, the DNCD told the press. During the operation, three people were captured.
On September 4, narcotics agents seized 10 packages containing marijuana at the Cibao International Airport, Santiago de los Caballeros province, during the inspection of a shipping company.
The DNCD reported that the drug was embedded in the soles of shoes that were bound for an address in the United States.
The Armed Forces seized 350 packages of cocaine in La Romana province on September 2.
During the operation, authorities detained three people. They also turned over to investigators a rifle, a pistol, two vehicles, several cellphones, personal documents, and other evidence, together with the 350 packages, the DNCD reported.
On August 30, customs authorities reported seizing $2,174,340 in Haina Oriental Port, totaling $4,349,000 seized in less than 10 days, the Dominican newspaper Diario Libre reported.
The DNCD says it is attempting to establish whether the seizure conducted on September 7, described above, bears any connection to these cases, due to the frequent cash seizures in the area.