Santo Domingo.- Within the framework of the reinforcement of operational capacities, agents of the Directorate National Drug Control Agency (DNCD)), members of the Dominican Republic Navy (ARD), the Air Force (FARD), coordinated by members of the Public Ministry, seized another shipment of 556 packages presumably cocaine and 69 bales of marijuana, in a joint and combined interdiction operation, carried out off the coast of the province of Barahona.
After receiving intelligence reports, the agents and military personnel launched a broad pursuit operation by air, sea and land to capture several individuals who were traveling in a suspicious manner on a boat towards the Dominican coast.
After 15 hours, maritime, air and land units managed to intercept the vessel of about 26 feet in length, several nautical miles south of the coast of the province of Barahona, where they confiscated 21 bags, containing inside 556 packages presumably cocaine and 69 bales of marijuana.
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In the operation, a Dominican, a Colombian and a Venezuelan were arrested. They are in the hands of the authorities of that province to be brought to justice in the next few hours for violating Law 50-88 on drugs and controlled substances.
During the interdiction work, the authorities also seized four Garmin GPS devices, a cell phone, two 75-horsepower outboard motors, several jugs of fuel, water, food, and other evidence.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office and the DNCD are deepening their investigations to determine whether there are other people involved in this international drug trafficking network, whose modus operandi is to bring in large drug loads in speedboats from South America.
“Criminal networks have suffered a severe blow, having seized a total of 2,480 kilograms of drugs (2.4 tons) in the last week, in joint operations carried out in airports, ports, coasts, borders and other points in the country,” the statement said.
The DNCD highlights the firm and decisive support of the Central Government, the Armed Forces (Navy, Air Force and Army), the Attorney General’s Office, state intelligence agencies, as well as international cooperation, which has been decisive in dealing important blows to these networks of transnational organized crime.
The 625 packages, presumably containing cocaine and marijuana, confiscated in this new operation were sent under chain of custody to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF), which will determine the type and exact weight of the substance through its analysis.
