Airplanes from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have been overflying Dominican Airspace since last year, when then-President Leonel Fernandez issued a resolution permitting drones as well as manned aircraft. Then-Presidential military advisor Major General Rafael Pena Antonio made the request, and operations began on 1 April 2012 and will end on 1 April this year. The information is contained in a report by the Presidential legal advisor, and sent to Congress where the 80 instructions and authorizations were prepared for the President’s signature.
This authorization was not only for the ‘Predator,’ a drone that can detect boats, airplanes or ships that are trying to bring illegal drugs into the country and the only information that Marino Vinicio Castillo revealed last July when President Fernandez hosted the visit by the United States Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, and they signed the agreements on security, drug trafficking and human trafficking. The resolution also includes authorizations for aircraft listed as Learjet N 7734T, Citation N5852K, ARTs N313, CGT and N366FM and King Airs N430JT, Ni66J, N2982R, N841DE, N7933U, N959DE and N846DJ to fly over Dominican airspace. The request to the government came from John D. Niedzialek, the DEA attache at the United States Embassy in the Dominican Republic.
The authorization was granted in accordance with Law 195-66 on Overflying and landing of foreign Aircraft in the Dominican Republic, a law published and issued by Provisional President Hector Garcia Godoy in 1966. This old law, which was not approved by the Congress, establishes that overflying national territory and landing permissions for foreign military aircraft in national territory is conditional on prior authorization of the Minister of the Armed Forces and in his absence by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. The law stipulates that the request should be made by the Air Attache of the corresponding diplomatic mission, and that the aircraft’s stay will be “conditional on the reciprocal exemptions and courtesies agreed on by both countries” and “the aircraft cannot be armed.”