Failed war on drugs: Creates drug mafia - murder in the streets

[windeguy]

Maybe the Super Tucanos found this ?

Police Bust International Drug Ring Operating in Dominican Republic

SANTO DOMINGO – A large international drug ring operated by Dominicans, Jamaicans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Puerto Ricans, Americans and Bahamians that provided planes used to smuggle drugs from South America into the United States has been dismantled, Dominican drug enforcement officials said.

Businessmen Rafael Senen Rosado Fermin, owner of Caribair, Sergio Rene Gomez Diaz and Jose Figueroa Ortiz were arrested on charges that they headed the criminal organization.

Army Lt. Col. Juan Ramon Rosado Perez, three other soldiers and a former National Police officer were also arrested for providing information and protection to the gang, DNCD drug enforcement agency chief Gen. Rolando Rosado Mateo said.

Among the other suspects arrested were Venezuelan citizen Jose Veras Marquez; Puerto Rican Harry William Nazario; U.S. citizens Alberto Laureano and Daimond Mario Perez; Bahamian Holmer Errol Outram; and Dominicans Victor Hugo Sanchez Portez, Danny Salvador Ramirez Cabral and Christian Suarez Javier.

The Jamaicans and Colombians involved in the drug trafficking network were identified by authorities in their respective countries, the DNCD said.

Authorities allege that the suspects brought airplanes into the country and modified them so they would have the capability to fly longer distances and carry more fuel.

The planes were sent to South America to pick up narcotics bound for the United States.

The gang operated under the protection of soldiers deployed at the Expedicion 14 de Junio airport in Constanza in the central Dominican Republic, as well as air cargo employees at airports in several other cities, Rosado Mateo said.

“This organization managed to even penetrate the airport controls as a result of the assistance received at the cited airports, where they managed to recruit soldiers of different ranks and civilians to conduct their activities without problems or suspicions,” the DNCD chief said.

Authorities seized six planes, commercial properties and residences worth “tens of millions of dollars” from the three businessmen who allegedly ran the network, Rosado Mateo said. EFE

http://laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=597967&CategoryId=14092

And the next group wanting to smuggle drugs will just corrupt the people that are replaced in the government, military and airport.

 

[windeguy]

Borrowing a concept from Amazon.com - Drugazon...

Who needs tunnels or piloted airplanes, or submarines to smuggle drugs when you have:

 

[GringoRubio]

"DR is too poor to see most of the harmful effects."

Would you please expand upon this final sentence? This could be riveting.

DR definitely has issues with trafficking including violence and corruption. The criminal elements are increasingly organized crime which are difficult to stamp out and will have long lasting consequences.

My comment was directed at the consumption side of the equation. I believe there just isn't the disposable income for most people to have a drug habit. I'll give two examples:

The young women working in Sosua definitely have a disposable income and quite a few have a cocaine habit.

Codeine is a carefully controlled medication in the US for mild pain control, cough suppression, and help weary cold & flu sufferers get some sleep. It can be addictive for some people which surprises me because I've used it a lot to mitigate pain for migraines, and hate the affects. However, it is readily available at any farmacia here for 40 pesos a dose.

 

[windeguy]

DR definitely has issues with trafficking including violence and corruption. The criminal elements are increasingly organized crime which are difficult to stamp out and will have long lasting consequences.

Difficult? How about impossible to stop because of the high profits to be made BECAUSE of the war on drugs?

My comment was directed at the consumption side of the equation. I believe there just isn't the disposable income for most people to have a drug habit. I'll give two examples:

The young women working in Sosua definitely have a disposable income and quite a few have a cocaine habit.

True. For those that develop a drug habit, they often resort to crime to finance that habit. Another result of the failed drug war.

Codeine is a carefully controlled medication in the US for mild pain control, cough suppression, and help weary cold & flu sufferers get some sleep. It can be addictive for some people which surprises me because I've used it a lot to mitigate pain for migraines, and hate the affects. However, it is readily available at any farmacia here for 40 pesos a dose.

Codeine, despite being an opiate and under US drug control laws as such, does virtually nothing for me except provide me with a vary annoying "buzz".

 

[GringoRubio]

Codeine, despite being an opiate and under US drug control laws as such, does virtually nothing for me except provide me with a vary annoying "buzz".

Glad that I company. I can tolerate morphine if I'm in extreme pain, but I turn down everything else. The doctors were definitely giving me the hard sell. I often wonder if they were getting kickbacks from the drug companies.

I completely agree on the drug war. Almost 80 years after the prohibition, There are still repercussions. It's just ridiculously stupid and unfortunately countries like the DR suffer the affects of misguided US policies.

 

[cobraboy]

Super Tucanos can do this:

[video=youtube_share;gHDZqUa0m1s]https://youtu.be/gHDZqUa0m1s[/video]

I wonder if the DR Super Tucanos have splashed a few smugglers' planes over water.

I suspect the ST's ghost the planes and boats, relaying radar info to their land-based colleagues.

The "long loiter" capacity along with downward-looking radar are mission critical.

A DEA crew was stationed on the airport where I had an FBO, and we got to know the crew. They flew Hawkers & old Gulfstreams with high capacity fuel tanks. They claim they rarely splashed aircraft, but got a few to taste their vortices as a reminder. A splash was an accident, or an effort for the smugglers to get away or screw up. Often the smuggler aircraft were seriously overloaded with way aft CG, so it wouldn't take much to get them out of whack.

 

[cobraboy]

Codeine, despite being an opiate and under US drug control laws as such, does virtually nothing for me except provide me with a vary annoying "buzz".

My only drug alergy. Makes me itch like my body is covered with ants.

 

[Caonabo]

DR definitely has issues with trafficking including violence and corruption. The criminal elements are increasingly organized crime which are difficult to stamp out and will have long lasting consequences.

My comment was directed at the consumption side of the equation. I believe there just isn't the disposable income for most people to have a drug habit. I'll give two examples:

The young women working in Sosua definitely have a disposable income and quite a few have a cocaine habit.

Codeine is a carefully controlled medication in the US for mild pain control, cough suppression, and help weary cold & flu sufferers get some sleep. It can be addictive for some people which surprises me because I've used it a lot to mitigate pain for migraines, and hate the affects. However, it is readily available at any farmacia here for 40 pesos a dose.

Let me begin by stating that this response is not meant to be in any way lofty or condescending. I believe a prevalent problem amongst most non-natives to a country is that they choose not to want to look too deep into that particular country's inner core. This is normal human behaviour globally. No difference here within the RD in regards to the tourists and or expatriates visiting or residing here. All? Of course not, but a very large majority. The RD has a big drug problem, just as most nations across the globe do as well. There are no differences, and it is not limited to the pretty obvious, and well known trafficking practices. The menace and affliction of drug use does not bypass those that we believe are less fortunate than us, may not have a bank account in equal parts to, or that nice shady palm trees can block from our view.....although, many of us choose not to see. It is actually quite the opposite. The UK, France, Turkey, India, Italy, Australia, so forth and so on, all receive their share of tourists and expatriates, but they also have their own individual problems in regards to the drug trade and addiction. Of course, none of us would ever want to think about that while on vacation, or living in Shangri-la, but that does not mean it does not exist. There are many communities, both large and small throughout the RD that are afflicted with drug problems. Some well documented, others not so much. As in the rest of the world, the problem usually starts within one demographic....adolescents and teens experimenting, and then morphs into other sets of circumstances. Just because the average Dominican may not have the same leverage in purchasing power, or as mentioned previously "disposable income", it does not mean that the same problems do not exist here within the RD....the product is much more available, and much more cheaper to purchase than in so called developed nations. For the naysayers, I will attempt to find one or two examples if time permits, and if I can also figure out how to post a video. The format here is slightly different than other forums I participate in.

 

[IslandDreaming]

The RD purchased 8 Super Tucanos from Brazilian planemaker Embraer in 2009. The planes have been instrumental in the RD making numerous offshore seizures of product, but $3.5 million US dollars under the table, were instrumental in getting the deal finalized. That would be under the administration of former president Leonel Fernandez. Preliminary hearings in that bribery case were scheduled to have been held in October.

Are they still operational?

 

[IslandDreaming]

Codeine, despite being an opiate and under US drug control laws as such, does virtually nothing for me except provide me with a vary annoying "buzz".

The best cough supressant ever invented

 

[Caonabo]

Are they still operational?

For this evening I can not speak, as I am not privy to the flight logs out of San Isidro.

 

[IslandDreaming]

For this evening I can not speak, as I am not privy to the flight logs out of San Isidro.

Wasn't trying to be that specific, have you seen them in the air of late?

 

[IslandDreaming]

Super Tucanos can do this:

[video=youtube_share;gHDZqUa0m1s]https://youtu.be/gHDZqUa0m1s[/video]

I wonder if the DR Super Tucanos have splashed a few smugglers' planes over water.

I take it that was a DEA jet providing RADAR service? Wish the image was abit clearer, can't read anything on that panel

 

[Caonabo]

Wasn't trying to be that specific, have you seen them in the air of late?

Although I love to look into the night sky and appreciate splendid star constellations with a glass of wine, I am usually not on the lookout for Super Tucanos heading out towards the Mar Caribe on patrol. It could quite possibly be that they have been grounded as "of late" due to the ongoing bribery case, I really do not know. That case in itself is relatively small potatoes, as compared to the case with Argentina which I have been following, but that is for another forum.

 

[IslandDreaming]

Glad that I company. I can tolerate morphine if I'm in extreme pain, but I turn down everything else. The doctors were definitely giving me the hard sell. I often wonder if they were getting kickbacks from the drug companies.

I completely agree on the drug war. Almost 80 years after the prohibition, There are still repercussions. It's just ridiculously stupid and unfortunately countries like the DR suffer the affects of misguided US policies.[/QUOTEWeird how different drugs affect different people Morphine to me provides very mild pain relief, not much more than Motrin but it does as you say, make me feel "weird" The good thing about Codeine is it's great ability to suppress coughs, better than anything I know of (Except that bloody elixir of turpinhydrate they used to give us in the Navy, I still believe it is red colored bilge run off and it tasted so bad you didn't dare cough any further for fear of another dose) Codeine is on the very bottom of the opioids in relation to pain relieving strength, fact is I can't think of any time I have seen it in USA in past 10 years with exception of cough suppressants

 

[cbmitch9]

In my humble opinion, the DR is ripe for drug transit to the US and other Caribbean nations. Low wages + Corruption = Perfect for drug transit and laundering.

 

[Caonabo]

In my humble opinion, the DR is ripe for drug transit to the US and other Caribbean nations. Low wages + Corruption = Perfect for drug transit and laundering.

Location. Location. Location.

 

[cobraboy]

In my humble opinion, the DR is ripe for drug transit to the US and other Caribbean nations. Low wages + Corruption = Perfect for drug transit and laundering.

Problem is the more the gubmint cracks down, the more of the drugs stay in the DR and cause user problems. Additionally, many locals who help the trafficers are paid in product...which also stays in the DR.

 

[Celt202]

For this evening I can not speak, as I am not privy to the flight logs out of San Isidro.

I saw them flying out of San Isidro a few months ago.

 

[AlterEgo]

Once again, ALL posts must be DR related or they will be deleted