Hoy newspaper reported that Colombian drug cartels using this country as a bridge from Colombia to the United States (via Puerto Rico) are paying their Dominican counterparts in heroine and not in hard currency. The newspaper alerts that these dealers must sell the drug in the Dominican Republic as they are not allowed to compete with the Colombians for the U.S. market. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency of the United States (DEA), the Colombians have reduced the price of heroine making it more marketable compared to cocaine. Felix Jiménez, chief of the DEA for the Caribbean, met yesterday in Santo Domingo with the president of the National Drug Control Department. Jiménez alerted that there has been an increase in illegal boat trips to Puerto Rico, and that these are being used to transport drugs into that island, and from there to the United States. He said that in the first 62 days of the year, Puerto Rican forces have detained 460 Dominicans that have made the trip across the Mona Channel. He said that in most cases proof of shipment cannot be obtained, because the drug traffickers throw their cargo into the sea when they are detected on high seas by the Puerto Rican Border Patrol.
