In the early hours of 12 April the National Police, the Department of Drug Control (DNCD) and the Navy carried out a joint operation against drug-traffickers and other criminal activities in the poor neighborhood of Gualey, just east of the Ozama river. In the operation, which was directed by the Chief of Police, Antonio Segundo Imbert Tesson, and the head of the DNCD, Julio Cesar Ventura Bayonet, marijuana, cocaine, firearms and makeshift weapons were confiscated. Over 250 arrests were made. The action came after months of escalating conflicts between heavily armed groups living in Gualey vying for the lucrative drug trade. Those groups had also exchanged gunfire with DNCD agents in the days preceding the police operation. The unrest had come to a high point two days before, when a young man was killed by police, provoking the burning of tires and a private truck in the sector. Gualey has long been known as the most active center of drug trade in the capital, and its inhabitants had complained about the dangers of living under the rule of the drug dealing gangs. After the police operation, a slightly improved state of affairs was reported in the area, with a considerable reduction in fears and gunfire that had accompanied daily life.
On 17 April, similar action was undertaken in Capotillo, which has also been the victim of armed conflicts between rival gangs. In Capotillo, fewer firearms and drugs were confiscated, although more machetes and makeshift weapons were found. Over fifty arrests were made.
Although citizens living in these areas have expressed their satisfaction with a calmer atmosphere in their neighborhoods as a result of the police operations, some have complained that the raiding of homes and the detention of many young men were done in an indiscriminate manner, resulting in the arrest of many innocent people.
19 April – 2 May 1996