A report in Diario Libre today, Wednesday 16 October, reveals details of the mass drug trafficking trade that has become a central part of barrio life in slums across the country. Police chief Major General Manuel Castro Castillo says that 75% of crimes and murders committed in the country are drug-related. He said that anti-drug agents’ lives are in constant danger when they go into the barrios to confiscate drugs. He said that up to five kilos a month are now being confiscated, up from 200 grams before he took over as chief of Police. A Police report on the situation indicates that the big capos who manage the drug retailing are protected by barrio residents, that they pay children RD$200 a day to alert of the presence of the Police Anti-Narcotics Unit (DICAN) or National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) agents. The report also indicates that people caught selling drugs are arrested but find ways to be released and return to their drug selling.
The report also describes how the drug sale points have become pawnshops where they pay in drugs or in money and if they are not paid back the client may be murdered. It adds that mothers who refuse to rent out their children are also threatened with death.
According to DICAN, deliverymen are used to distribute the drugs to their clients. Smartphones are used and requests are made in code.
The Police say that the barrios where there are most drug points are Capotillo, Gualey, Guachupita, Simon Bolivar and Las Canitas. Outside the capital, the cities with the highest drug trafficking levels are San Francisco de Macoris, Azua, Bani, San Cristobal and La Romana.
According to the Police, drug dealers in Barahona and Santiago are using a new way of evading detection. The vendors keep a can of water at their side and if the agents approach, they throw the drugs inside the water and they dissolve as if it were detergent, and they pretend they have been cleaning the place.
www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2013/10/16/i406831_microtrafico-drogas-mueve-economaa-los-barrios.html