As many may recall, the cruise ship port just outside Puerto Plata is set to open in the coming year.
When it does, somewhere between 3,000-6,000 tourists will be disgorged from the ships somewhere between three to five times a week. Despite full knowledge, Puerto Plata has done relatively little to prepare themselves for the new influx of cash. Further, the beach is poor, the town can get a bit dusty, and aside from the fort, the teleferico, Ocean World and a tour of Brugal, there isn't that much to do. Cabarete has a nice beach and decent restaurants, but is almost an hour away from the dock.
Which leaves us with Sosua. Absent the sex-trade stigma, Sosua is actually a charming little town, that happens to be situated around a very nice, swimmable beach, and a beautiful bay.
It occurs to me that fact has occurred to the powers-that-be (defined as powerful business interests, politicians, lawyers, judges and policia). I imagine they think shutting down the higher profile non-dominican sex businesses along with the Haitian owned massage parlors, and fully rebuilding the beachfront shacks with businesses will help direct a lot of the cruise tourist business their way.
And I'm sure they think cruise business is better in the long term than sex-tourist business, and the easiest way to send the intended message to all parties is by a serious crackdown.
So, in terms of police action, this is probably more the beginning than the end, until those on the NY-Sosua express start to change their travel plans to somewhere else.