vbadmin
08-04-2006, 07:05 AM
The Dominican military has rejected a US government offer to implement a plan to create a specialized force with efficient logistic resources to watch the border with Haiti with the aim of impeding the trafficking of drugs and stolen vehicles, as well as people smuggling. There are reports that much of the smuggling along the border is due to the payment of tolls to the Dominican military stationed along the border. But according to a report in El Caribe, Dominican military chiefs rejected the offer, indicating that border surveillance should be reserved to the Dominican Armed Forces.
El Caribe newspaper also reports that US narcotics officers have notified the Dominican authorities of the existence of multiple irregular flights bringing in drugs from Colombia and landing on highways, such as the Autovia del Este, and at sea. The newspaper also reports that the US government would be willing to donate a radar system to detect the irregular flights.
While initially the drugs were destined for export to the US, drug dealers have been paying their local contacts in drug portions, which has led to the burgeoning of a previously unheard of domestic drug market and small-scale drug dealing that reaches out to Dominicans of all economic levels. As reported in El Caribe, the growth of domestic drug consumption is the main reason for the increase in violent crime in the country. The number of drug sales points is estimated to have increased from an identified 3,000 in 2000 to more than 20,000 at the present time.
An editorial in today's El Caribe points out that the immense economic power of the drug trade has permeated Dominican structures, creating a dangerous network of complicities and infamous connections, spurred by ruthless money-making objectives. The point of the case of former army captain Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo, on trial in the US, is presented as the most illustrative example of the close relationship between international drug trafficking and the Dominican government.
El Caribe reports that the task of locating and dismantling these points is one of the main priorities of the government program to counteract violence and crime.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)
El Caribe newspaper also reports that US narcotics officers have notified the Dominican authorities of the existence of multiple irregular flights bringing in drugs from Colombia and landing on highways, such as the Autovia del Este, and at sea. The newspaper also reports that the US government would be willing to donate a radar system to detect the irregular flights.
While initially the drugs were destined for export to the US, drug dealers have been paying their local contacts in drug portions, which has led to the burgeoning of a previously unheard of domestic drug market and small-scale drug dealing that reaches out to Dominicans of all economic levels. As reported in El Caribe, the growth of domestic drug consumption is the main reason for the increase in violent crime in the country. The number of drug sales points is estimated to have increased from an identified 3,000 in 2000 to more than 20,000 at the present time.
An editorial in today's El Caribe points out that the immense economic power of the drug trade has permeated Dominican structures, creating a dangerous network of complicities and infamous connections, spurred by ruthless money-making objectives. The point of the case of former army captain Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo, on trial in the US, is presented as the most illustrative example of the close relationship between international drug trafficking and the Dominican government.
El Caribe reports that the task of locating and dismantling these points is one of the main priorities of the government program to counteract violence and crime.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)