The Ministry of Defense has announced the purchase of two helicopters and 30 all-terrain vehicles, pickups and trucks to strengthen patrols on the border with Haiti. The equipment will bolster the work being carried out by the Specialized Land Border Corps (CESFRONT). Minister Sigfrido Pared Perez says that 1,500 Cesfront agents are now patrolling the border.
Pared said the concern is that the border is being used for firearms and drug trafficking.
He pointed out that the DR has a maritime border with the country that produces 90% of the cocaine in the world (Colombia), a land border with Haiti and a maritime border with Puerto Rico. He also mentioned that the DR receives five million tourists a year, making it a high-transit country. Pared Perez was being interviewed by journalists during a ceremony at the Senate yesterday, Tuesday 22 July 2014 in recognition of his institutional strengthening initiatives aimed at making the Armed Forces more humane and environmentally friendly. The minister is the brother of the Senate president Reinaldo Pared Perez. A third brother, Carlos, is President Danilo Medina’s personal assistant.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2014/07/23/i713501_equipos-para-vigilar-frontera.html