Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic: National Security
Narcotics Trafficking
The Dominican Republic is a major transshipment country
for cocaine from Colombia destined for the United States and
Puerto Rico. The country's long, underpatrolled border with
Haiti and its poorly paid and ill-equipped police and armed
services make it an ideal linkage point for drug deliveries.
Although the Dominican Republic is not a drug-producing
country, the profits of drug trafficking support a significant
part of the construction and business sectors, and are responsible
for much of the personal spending on luxuries.
Dominican citizens are heavily involved in the street narcotics
networks in New York and other cities of the Northeast and
Miami. They are believed to be responsible for one-third of the
300 tons of cocaine reaching United States markets each year
—a share that has doubled since the early 1990s. Loads of
drugs from Colombia are delivered by ships and planes, often
offshore air drops for pickup by small Dominican vessels. The
drugs are then transferred directly to Puerto Rico by specially
designed speedy small craft and yachts, or to the mainland
United States hidden in legitimate cargoes. Aircraft are used
for flights to the Bahamian islands. Profits from drug transactions
are sent back to the Dominican Republic by bulk transfers
of cash concealed in commercial shipments and camouflaged
as remittances from Dominican workers in the United States.
The Dominican Republic has demonstrated considerable
determination in the conduct of its counternarcotics effort.
Senior officials engage in neither drug trafficking nor money
laundering. The counternarcotics effort is normally in the
hands of the DNCD and the military. Composed of more than
800 officials from the police, the three armed services, and the
civilian sector, the rapidly growing DNCD has done an excellent
job of battling drug trafficking along the southwest and
east coasts and in the Santo Domingo area. However, lack of
experience among operational-level personnel and low salaries
hamper its overall effectiveness. The DNCD is aided by Special
Investigative Teams of the DNCD, trained and equipped by the
United States; these teams supply valuable intelligence on
major international narcotics operations. A Financial Investigative
Unit was formed in 1997 to uncover money laundering.
The two other mechanisms for controlling drug trafficking are
not as effective. Neither the police nor the military are sufficiently
motivated or equipped to impose consistently effective
controls. The army has had little success in interdicting ship-
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