DOMINICAN LAW-ENFORCEMENT LACKS THE TOOLS TO FIGHT DRUGS, CHIEF PROSECUTOR
SAYS

SANTO DOMINGO.- Justice minister Radhames Jimenez yesterday
acknowledged a lack of logistics to fight drug-trafficking and said
the National Drugs Control Agncy (DNCD) needs more support and funds.

He said the Dominican Air Force and Navy also need equipment to
protect the airspace and coasts,, reason why the Government seeks to
acquire a modern fleet to pursue planes that drop drugs along the
country’s coasts. "The Navy must also have logistics, speedboats, to
prevent these boats which come from Colombia and Venezuela from
continuing their drug transfers in our territory."

Jimenez noted president the Government’s persistence to deal with the
situation and warned that in the war on drug-trafficking there can’t
be a retreat of not even one inch.

As to the Presidency’s Narcotics adviser, Marino Vinicio (Vincho)
Castillo’s position, that the country’s courts haven’t shown "valor or
honor" in the prosecuting drug traffic and consumption, the official
said "it’s a very particular position. I believe that there can be
segments in the Judiciary that perhaps act timidly against narcotics
trafficking."