NewsWhore
09-18-2007, 05:30 PM
President Leonel Fernandez said that the US has diverted resources for patrolling Caribbean waters for drug trafficking to focus on the war in Iraq, as reported in Hoy. "I feel that the displacement of the fight against drugs to fight terrorism in the Middle East is behind the increase in drug trafficking in the region," said Fernandez. President Fernandez said the Dominican Republic has asked for increased US cooperation to combat trafficking.
The DR, with a central geographic position, has been a victim to increased crime that has come with the stepped up drug trafficking. Dealers pay in drugs in the DR, and their partners need to market their drugs locally to cash in their profits. This has lead to an increase in local drug addicts that are now resorting to violent crime to afford their vices.
The DR has, because of its geographic location, serves as a shipping point of illegal narcotics from South America with final destination the US or Europe. The DR has received a wave of drug shipments from planes originating in Venezuela in recent years.
The President made the comments in Miami during his participation in a University of Miami activity when asked about a US State Department report that lists the DR as one of the top 20 drug trafficking countries. The US report recognizes the efforts made by Dominicans authorities to fight the illegal drug trade. The report makes the point that the government's institutional weaknesses have impeded more domestic control of the flow of drugs.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)
The DR, with a central geographic position, has been a victim to increased crime that has come with the stepped up drug trafficking. Dealers pay in drugs in the DR, and their partners need to market their drugs locally to cash in their profits. This has lead to an increase in local drug addicts that are now resorting to violent crime to afford their vices.
The DR has, because of its geographic location, serves as a shipping point of illegal narcotics from South America with final destination the US or Europe. The DR has received a wave of drug shipments from planes originating in Venezuela in recent years.
The President made the comments in Miami during his participation in a University of Miami activity when asked about a US State Department report that lists the DR as one of the top 20 drug trafficking countries. The US report recognizes the efforts made by Dominicans authorities to fight the illegal drug trade. The report makes the point that the government's institutional weaknesses have impeded more domestic control of the flow of drugs.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)