The National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) says it is locked in a fierce battle in the country’s major ports against the constant innovation of large South American cartels that have set their sights on the Dominican Republic as a bridge to Europe.
As reported, the recent seizures of cocaine shipments exceeding a ton in the docks of Haina and Caucedo, destined for Europe, confirm that Europe has become the epicenter of the global cocaine trade, where the price per kilogram ranges between 55,000 and 60,000 euros, more than double the cost in the United States.
In both Greater Santo Domingo ports, a silent battle against drug trafficking is being waged, a fight in which the Dominican Republic has become a key player, thanks to privileged access granted by the United States to local authorities to its most modern monitoring centers for criminal activity in the Caribbean region, based in Florida, which has facilitated the capture of large shipments of drugs produced in Andean countries, El Dia reports.
The information exchanged by US and Dominican authorities has not only facilitated the interdiction of significant shipments on the high seas but also the detection of drug-laden containers in the docks of Haina and Caucedo destined for Europe.
The DNCD says that a major effort is ongoing in the ports of Haina and Caucedo, the most important in the Caribbean, as part of a triple action between the DNCD, the Customs Agency and the port authorities. Modern scanners have been installed to assist in the inspection of containers without disrupting commerce.
El Dia reports that the implementation of these technological tools and access granted to Dominican anti-drug authorities by the United States to its intelligence and information centers against criminal activity in the region has allowed for the detection of containers that are monitored from their ports of origin.
The access to better technology helps giving the evolving creativity of drug traffickers, which sometimes seems limitless. Drugs can be hidden inside agricultural products, sealed in secret compartments within containers, or even disguised as shipments of legal products.
In mid-July, the DNCD, backed by the security of the Caucedo Multimodal Port and representatives of the Public Ministry, seized a ton of cocaine in a container loaded with bananas, which was to be sent from said terminal to Rotterdam, Netherlands.
A month earlier and in the same port, authorities seized a shipment of 1,061 packages of marijuana, which was camouflaged in a container destined for London, England.
It is recalled that in April 2023, authorities seized the second-largest shipment in history in Caucedo by intercepting a refrigerated container that arrived in transit from Ecuador and whose final destination was the port of Rotterdam with 2,271.58 kilograms of cocaine (more than two tons).
From January to August 2024, 17 tons of drugs have been seized in nationwide operations, and another 27 tons have been intercepted through the collaboration of the DNCD with allied countries for a consolidated total of 44 tons of substances.
El Dia reports that the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has incorporated unmanned drones in the surveillance of the Caribbean region to detect cargo in speedboats from South America. This has helped with early detection of the drug trafficking operations.
The DNCD publishes stories of the drug seizures on its website.
15 August 2024