Should we be afraid?

Hello all! I am a longtime lurker on this forum but am planning a trip to POP (finally) and need some honest answers. By the way, I am a NYC native but my parents are both from POP and I grew up shuttling between NYC and PP. I am very familar with how things work and was once considered a "native dominican" , since i went to part of elementary school and all of HS @ the local run of the mill schools and whatnot.....but i'm not sure what to expect now, since I know how finnicky my people can be.

Long story short, I haven't been in DR for about 5 years. Since then I have acquired several very visible tattoos and a very, very heavily tattooed husband.

So I have 2 questions/problems to ask about:

1. I have had some pals tell me we shouldnt even go out if we go, since my husband and I will surely be arrested for suspected drug-trafficking simply for being tattooed! Mind you, we have never had trouble with the law anywhere and have done nothing illegal ever. However, I know the local police and their ways. They love to arrest people for no reason and then they require ridiculous amounts of money and influence to let you go.

They said my husband will look Puerto Rican and thus guilty to them (he is actually native hawaiian) and I'm the typical dominican "morenita" except I know I will attract much attention what with the tattoos my enormous Chaka Khan mane.

Are we really going to have to hide out? Are we not going to be able to sit on the malecon on sundays like everyone else does, from fear that we will be detained for simply looking "suspicious"?


2. Last time I was in POP, the people in customs tried to steal stuff from my bags. I had to give an overseer a $10 bill so they would leave me alone. Now I fear I will not only have to deal with that, but also some hardcore harrassment for looking "suspicious". What do you think?

This is nerve-wrecking.

Please tell me anything you know!!!! I would be eternally grateful!!!

Should I keep worrying and bracing myself?

Hello all! I am a longtime lurker on this forum but am planning a trip to POP (finally) and need some honest answers. By the way, I am a NYC native but my parents are both from POP and I grew up shuttling between NYC and PP. I am very familar with how things work and was once considered a "native dominican" , since i went to part of elementary school and all of HS @ the local run of the mill schools and whatnot.....but i'm not sure what to expect now, since I know how finnicky my people can be.

Long story short, I haven't been in DR for about 5 years. Since then I have acquired several very visible tattoos and a very, very heavily tattooed husband.

So I have 2 questions/problems to ask about:

1. I have had some pals tell me we shouldnt even go out if we go, since my husband and I will surely be arrested for suspected drug-trafficking simply for being tattooed! Mind you, we have never had trouble with the law anywhere and have done nothing illegal ever. However, I know the local police and their ways. They love to arrest people for no reason and then they require ridiculous amounts of money and influence to let you go.

They said my husband will look Puerto Rican and thus guilty to them (he is actually native hawaiian) and I'm the typical dominican "morenita" except I know I will attract much attention what with the tattoos my enormous Chaka Khan mane.

Are we really going to have to hide out? Are we not going to be able to sit on the malecon on sundays like everyone else does, from fear that we will be detained for simply looking "suspicious"?


2. Last time I was in POP, the people in customs tried to steal stuff from my bags. I had to give an overseer a $10 bill so they would leave me alone. Now I fear I will not only have to deal with that, but also some hardcore harrassment for looking "suspicious". What do you think?

This is nerve-wrecking.

Please tell me anything you know!!!! I would be eternally grateful!!!

p.s. im sorry i posted this in the government section too. i wasnt sure where to put it!

omg thats a great tip!

badpiece, I didnt think that would work! But you're right. I am so gonna just pretend I dont know wtf is going on lol "what? im sorry. i dont speak spanish."


vacara, since the drug and secuestering problems have gotten worse in the last couple years, they have been actively harassing a great number of dominicans everytime they want to come in or out of the country.

the last time i was there, they questioned me for 20 minutes stating my passport must be false because my spanish is too good.

last time my sister went, as she was leaving, she was held at the airport in a tiny room and they wouldnt let her see her son, stating she couldnt take him out of the country. mind you, this child is born and raised in NJ and was only there on vacation. They tried to make her pay an exhorbitant sum unless she got his father, who was in NJ to write a letter saying he can leave DR. The child had an American passport! She almost missed her light after talking to 6 different people and having to get loud.

Not to mention when she arrived, her stroller didn't come out with the rest of their bags and she had to go searching the airport for it, only to find it behind some sectioned off area. the guy guarding it wouldnt give it to her, despite the name tag on it and her showing ID. he tried to charge her to give it back. She started yelling for a supervisor and he changed his tune immediately once a higher up came to see what the problem was.

Also, my bff, who had a fiance in NY and traveled back and forth a couple times a year was held and questioned for hours when she tried to leave. They said they were 100% sure she was trafficking. Nude search and everything. (Physically she looks like the average uppity, light skinned local girl, nothing to draw attention to her at all). They made her miss her flight. She had to pay the difference to change it. Ludicrous. I think this time she didn't have problems but it seems they only treat the "gringos" nice...well...a better part of the time anyway lol

So you see..I am sort of expecting something to happen...but I will instead play dumb and hope for the best. No sense in drawing that kind of energy to us, right?

castleburger, thanks for the tips. my concern is because we all know gringos and locals are held to different standards...... as in, a gringo can have all the tattoos they want and do whatever they want in general, and its ok because youre a "foreigner", but if youre from there, you will be pegged as a tiguere, maleante, ex con...you get my drift.


ctrob, yeah....i will just carry my paperwork and try to relax! lol

jrzyguy, poor hubby would have to be in long pants and long sleeved turtle necks 24/7 lol sounds hellish! we will def keep copies of our documents with us, just in case.

cobraboy, thats hilarious! will def do that as well. i do look dominican, though..and my husband looks hispanic though he isnt. *sighs* maybe i can pretend im african american..after all, most dominicans here in the u.s. usually peg me as such since i dont really adhere to what they "think" a dominican-york looks like.

lol everyone knows me and my parents and all our business in Puerto Plata so them thinking I am a "prostitute" is not really something I need to worry about. Its only the police and their bias I am thinking of. We don't consort with anyone shady nor do we seek trouble....but they dont care how good you are sometimes... I actually do know a guy who was detained in Bonao for being heavily tattooed and nothing else. It does happen. They are just fickle.

M.A.R., i think you may be right...my mother usually flies to STI and has never had a problem. seems to be POP for the most part.. no clue as to why...


jhartley, lol I wouldnt care if they put me under a spotlight and the whole town ogled me. long as i dont have to deal with the stupid police, i could care less!