US Secretary of Transport in Santo Domingo for an official two-day visit commended the efforts of Rear Admiral Victor García Alecont to combat drug trafficking and save lives. Slater called the work of the Dominican Navy "exemplary," referring to the strong search and rescue program, migrant interdiction and drug trafficking reduction. He believes that the Dominican Navy, assisted by the US Coast Guard, has closed off DR waters as an avenue for drug trafficking. He praised Dominican efforts to combat the free flow of drugs through the Caribbean. Unfortunately, he said, the business lure is so great that when you close off one avenue, another will open. He said that the pressures from Haiti continue to be significant, regardless of the commitment made by Presidents Fernández of the DR and Preval from Haiti. Slater said that the Dominican Navy made around 5,000 search and rescue efforts in 1999. Slater visited the Aries coast guard ship, one of three that the US has donated to the Dominican Navy. With him were Thad W. Allen, chief of the US Coast Guard Service and Rear Admiral Victor García Alecont.
