President Leonel Fernández was in Cabo Rojo, Pedernales, on the frontier with Haiti, yesterday to formally re-inaugurate a previously practically abandoned detachment of the Dominican Air Force. Two airplanes and a helicopter have now been assigned to the detachment whose men have been instructed to reduce drug trafficking, contraband of weapons, illegal crossing of persons, protect the environment and assist in sea rescue activities. Minister of the Armed Forces Manuel de Jesus Florentino, Chief of the Air Force Hugo Rafael González Borrell, Rear Admiral Victor García Alecón, Chief of the Police Pedro de Jesus Candelier, and the head of the Drug Control Department, Rear Admiral Luis Alberto Humeau accompanied the President. Also Minister of Interior and Police, Norge Botello; Administrative Secretary of the Presidency, Simon Lizardo, and Technical Secretary of the Presidency, Temistocles Montás. Because of the rampant corruption and lack of institutions within Haiti, Haiti is a major transshipment point for drugs coming from South America that are later introduced into the DR on their way to Puerto Rico. While the bulk of the drugs is not for the DR, reports indicate that increasingly drug dealers are paying their local contacts in drugs to be sold in the local market.
