Santo Domingo.- The Public Ministry reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening international judicial cooperation and the fight against transnational organized crime, during its participation in the EU-Latin America Senior Officials Meeting on justice, held in Brussels.
Deputy Attorney General Pedro Frías Morillo represented the Public Ministry at the meeting held on February 18 and 19, which is part of the strategic partnership between Latin America and the European Union in matters of Security and State of Rightconsolidated after the summits EU-CELAC of 2023 and 2025, and in consistency with the Santa Marta Declaration of 2025which prioritizes the dismantling of the economic structures of criminal organizations.
During his speech, Frías Morillo highlighted that these spaces represent an opportunity for learning and constant evolution to achieve more effective criminal prosecution. “We are summoned by a clear reality: transnational organized crime is evolving at gigantic steps. Today criminal organizations are diversified, flexible and technologically sophisticated,” he stated.
He pointed out that these structures no longer depend exclusively on drug trafficking, but have expanded their activities to smuggling, cybercrime, money laundering and illegal mining, among other crimes, which requires strategic, convergent and operationally effective responses.
He stressed that the strategic geographical position of the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean makes it a connection point between the Americas and Europe, representing an opportunity for trade, but, at the same time, implies risks associated with drug trafficking and illicit financial operations.
In this context, the country has assumed the commitment to consolidate itself as a regional hub for judicial cooperation and transnational prosecution.
In terms of asset recovery and confiscation, Frías Morillo emphasized that attacking the economic structures of crime is as important as pursuing its leaders.
He reported that the country has strengthened seizure mechanisms through parallel financial investigations since the first stage of the criminal process and the recent approval of the Asset Forfeiture Law.
Likewise, he highlighted the creation of specialized bodies for the management of recovered assets and the establishment of the Ministry of Justice, recognizing that institutional effectiveness depends on the specialization of prosecutors, judges and investigators.
Regarding the challenges linked to electronic evidence, he pointed out the volatility of data and the speed of the digital environment as priority challenges.
In that sense, he explained that the Dominican Republic is in the final phase of ratification of the second additional protocol to the Budapest Convention, a key instrument to strengthen international cooperation on cybercrime.
Also, he addressed the importance of harmonizing authenticity standards for digital evidence and promoting multidisciplinary units in the face of the accelerated development of artificial intelligence, as well as consolidating data protection as an enabler of trust based on clear standards and guarantees of fundamental rights.
He highlighted that inter-institutional coordination has been strengthened in the country through the creation of task forces and periodic high-level meetings.
The deputy attorney general valued the country’s participation in the EL PAcCTO 2.0 Program as fundamental for building operational trust between both regions.
He argued that cooperation between the European Union and Latin America must be based on five pillars: regulatory convergence, mutual recognition, interoperability, specialized training and reduction of response times.
“Organized crime operates without borders and our cooperation should not have them either. If we manage to harmonize standards and strengthen trust, we will be sending a clear message that this is a space of legality, justice and respect for the rule of law,” he said.
