Santo Domingo.-For the first time, the United States government formally requested from the Dominican Republic to present a candidate to occupy the Executive Directorate of the United Nations Office against Drug and Crime (UNUD), an agency responsible for leading the global struggle against drug trafficking and organized crime.
The information was released during the weekly with the press, a space headed by President Luis Abinader in the National Palace, where Rebeca Márquez, representative of international cooperation programs in the fight against drugs of the US government was.
According to Márquez, the proposal responds to the “solid commitment history of the Dominican Republic with the UN and the firm practices that it has kept in drug control and the prevention of organized crime.”
With this request, the US government recognizes the strategic role of the Dominican Republic in the region and its growing leadership in international forums on drug safety and prevention.
Márquez also stressed that the Caribbean country has demonstrated good practices in the application of policies against drug trafficking and criminality, so its eventual candidacy would contribute to strengthening the role of UNODC as an organism specialized in the field.
President Abinader thanked the deference and assured that his government will evaluate the proposal within the framework of its foreign policy aimed at strengthening multilateral cooperation and international combat against drugs and organized crime.
He also expressed his gratitude for the recognition of the efforts that his government has been developing in the fight against drugs, stressing that it constitutes a state priority to maintain and deepen those advances.
Radiography
The Head of State reported that, between 2020 and 2025, the National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) managed to seize 226,046 kilograms of drugs through national and international operations. Of that total, 158,672.94 kilos were occupied in Dominican territory and 67,373.79 kilos abroad, thanks to joint intelligence actions.
During his participation in the weekly with the press, held in the Las Cariátidas Hall of the National Palace, under the theme “The fight continues”, the president also highlighted the seizure of 144 boats, 13,446 vehicles, 1,596 firearms, seven aircraft and financial assets that exceed USD $ 13 million and more than RD $ 188 million.
In this same period, 182,815 people linked to crimes of drug trafficking, microtrafficking, money laundering and related activities were arrested.
Abinader stressed that only in the country the DNCD made 9,685 raids and 921,823 interdictions in public spaces, which allowed 171,206 people to arrest and confiscate 46.6 million grams of drugs.
Trust
– Drug fight
José Manuel Cabrera Ulloa, president of the National Directorate of Drug Control (DNCD) said that the president has achieved an adequate level of trust with these agencies and this has allowed effectiveness.
Three years without deaths from adulterated alcohol
Regulation. The Minister of Industry, Commerce and MSMEs, Ito Bisonó, revealed that between 2019 and 2020 around 600 people died in the country for adulterated alcohol consumption, including several tourists, a crisis that coincided with the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemia.
Bisonó explained that, when assuming the government in 2020, they found an alarming situation: “The deceased of the pandemic competed with those of alcohol adulterated by methanol.”
“We have been free of the impact of adulterated alcohol,” said the minister.
