France will place the Dominican Republic as a strategic axis of its new global offensive against him drug traffickingaccording to a report from the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche (Le JDD).
The plan, promoted by the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrotcontemplates the creation of a regional academy fight against organized crime based in Saint Dominicwhich will begin operating in 2026.
The institution will form each year 250 researchersmagistrates, customs officers and financial analysts specialized in fight drug trafficking. According to Le JDD, the objective is to turn the country into a reference center regional training and intelligence, within the framework of a strategy that seeks to attack trafficking networks from their logistical and financial structure.
The global offensive from the Caribbean
The project is part of the “global offensive against drugs” that France pushes to stop the expansion of cocaine trafficking and the growth of transnational cartels. Barrot explained that his Government will sign twelve new cooperation agreements with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, focused on intelligence sharing, judicial cooperationprosecution of illicit capital and joint formation of specialized units.
What measures does the French strategy against criminal networks include?
In the Dominican case, the installation of the academy represents recognition of his geographical position and his institutional infrastructurewhich make it a natural link between South America, the Caribbean and Europe.
Dismantle drug finances
The French strategy also seeks to dismantle the financial structures of the racketeering. Among the measures, the seizure of propertyfreezing assets, blocking transactions and entry restrictions to Europe for individuals linked to criminal networks.
The plan also includes reinforcing embassies in transit and production countries, doubling the development assistance intended for anti-drug programs and promoting economic alternatives in cocaine-producing regions.
Why is France promoting this global offensive against drugs?
“The fight against criminal networks can no longer be limited to good feelings; we need results and a real impact“he stated Barrot to the French environment.
Response to the internal pressure
The report explains that this global offensive responds to the growing internal pressure in Francewhere between 80% and 90% of violent crimes are related to the drug trafficking. Every year there are around 10,000 hospitalizations due to drug use and a sustained increase in so-called “reckonings.”
Barrot have recently visited Mexico and Colombiamain producers and corridors of cocaine, and plans to extend its route to Africa and the Balkans, other active routes of global trafficking.
With the creation of the academy, the Dominican Republic will assume a central role in the international anti-drug cooperation architecture, serving for the first time as a regional platform for training and intelligence exchange sponsored by a European power. Le JDD describes the initiative as “offensive diplomacy” that combines police, judicial and financial efforts with development policies. The choice of Santo Domingo, the media adds, “places the Caribbean at the heart of a global strategy against the drug trafficking economy.”
