Unwanted Fame: Dominican Republic -- Headquarters for Narcotraffickers

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While President Leonel Fernandez has committed his new administration to an agenda to consolidate democracy and provide economic opportunities in the Dominican Republic, another potentially corrosive process is underway in this country. In Santo Domingo's halls of power and academic circles, the prospect of a new political and economic era is discussed with excitement and anticipation. Not discussed, however, is the ongoing problem of narcotics trafficking and the consolidation of power by Dominican drug trafficking organizations. The Dominican Republic is now considered by the US DEA the command, control, and communications center for Caribbean drug trafficking activities. Dominican organizations oversee and monitor most of the logistical requirements to move cocaine: aircraft, boats, global positioning systems for transportation, and radios and cellular phones for communications and management of organizations that stretch from New York to Colombia. The consolidation of power by Dominican narcotics trafficking organizations has the potential to undermine the Fernandez agenda.

The Dominican Republic has been a key transshipment point for illicit narcotics throughout the 1990s. A number of factors contribute to this phenomenon. The most important is the close link between the Dominican Republic and New York, where most of the cocaine, and recently Colombian heroin, is destined. Dominicans have become an important force in New York's political and economic life, with over an estimated 500,000 …