Sorry to have to report the latest scam but after years of telling tourists to always be courteous towards locals, I am having to revise that. Be courteous yes, but don't shake an outstretched hand if you don't know the person. At least for now & at least in Cabarete.
The scam goes like this: tourist walking along the street approached by one or two local guys who smile 'Hola my friend' and put their hand out to shake; the tourist shakes the hand, and finds a small packet of drugs in his palm. Immediately two police appear and haul gringo off to jail. So far 1 Canadian and 1 American have been snagged in 2 separate incidents in Cabarete. Get out of jail card costs anywhere between US$6000-US$10,000. Most tourists will pay rather than spend the whole of their holiday in jail waiting for a Court appearance. Cash then divvied up amongst perps and................on to next one.
Unfortunately this is going to lead to tourists being highly suspicious of anyone, including the vast majority of locals who would never dream of pulling a stunt like this. And if it keeps up, it will deter tourists from this destination which is not what the DR needs right now.
If it happens to you, get someone to contact your Consular rep. or Embassy immediately. But prevention being better than 'cure', don't shake hands. Probably best to smile & put open palms in full view in vertical position & walk on. That way they'll know you know what the scam is. The more we can get people not falling for this one, the sooner they'll stop trying.
BTW, 'strangers' includes the guy you met yesterday & who didn't try it the first time he met you.
The scam goes like this: tourist walking along the street approached by one or two local guys who smile 'Hola my friend' and put their hand out to shake; the tourist shakes the hand, and finds a small packet of drugs in his palm. Immediately two police appear and haul gringo off to jail. So far 1 Canadian and 1 American have been snagged in 2 separate incidents in Cabarete. Get out of jail card costs anywhere between US$6000-US$10,000. Most tourists will pay rather than spend the whole of their holiday in jail waiting for a Court appearance. Cash then divvied up amongst perps and................on to next one.
Unfortunately this is going to lead to tourists being highly suspicious of anyone, including the vast majority of locals who would never dream of pulling a stunt like this. And if it keeps up, it will deter tourists from this destination which is not what the DR needs right now.
If it happens to you, get someone to contact your Consular rep. or Embassy immediately. But prevention being better than 'cure', don't shake hands. Probably best to smile & put open palms in full view in vertical position & walk on. That way they'll know you know what the scam is. The more we can get people not falling for this one, the sooner they'll stop trying.
BTW, 'strangers' includes the guy you met yesterday & who didn't try it the first time he met you.