Cocaine on fire in Santo Domingo!
Santo Domingo, Nov 27 (EFE).-
Dominican authorities on Thursday incinerated 1,450 kilograms of cocaine seized in three maritime operations carried out this month along the country’s southern coast, conducted in support of the United States-led Southern Lance anti-narcotics initiative.
The destruction took place one day after a visit to the island by United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The three interdictions, executed in the coastal province of Pedernales, were among the few operations linked to the US deployment in the Caribbean in which no fatalities were reported since the mission’s launch, officials said.
Authorities defend drug burning as a public health measure
Sonia Elizabeth Lebrón, director of the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF), which oversaw the drug burning at the First Infantry Brigade grounds in Santo Domingo, said the destruction of narcotics is essential to reducing their reach.
“Everything involving the destruction of controlled substances is fruitful because our mission is to prevent these substances from making it back onto the streets,” Lebrón told EFE.
The cocaine incinerated on Thursday was part of broader seizures made as the US intensifies its efforts to destroy fast boats departing from South America, which Washington claims are bound for US shores.
Lebrón emphasised that each kilogram seized “means less impact on public health, especially for young people, who are frequent victims of drug trafficking networks.”
She noted that the Dominican Republic remains vulnerable due to its geographic position, adding that the country’s National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) and the Public Ministry have done “phenomenal work” confronting transnational narcotics organisations.
So far this year, Inacif has destroyed more than 28,452 kilograms of drugs, the majority of them cocaine.
US to use Dominican airports in anti-narcotics effort
The incineration came a day after Dominican President Luis Abinader and Hegseth announced that the US will provisionally use two Dominican airports, Las Américas International Airport and the San Isidro military airfield, both in Santo Domingo, to support logistics for Operation Southern Lance.
Abinader said the facilities will host US equipment and technical personnel as part of Washington’s expanded operations in the Caribbean.
He offered few details but said the cooperation falls under “special permits” granted to the US under existing bilateral security protocols.
Hegseth, the first US secretary of war to visit the Dominican Republic officially, stressed that US counter-narcotics actions are the “only language” understood by traffickers and terrorist groups.
“We are defending our citizens. We seek security so our countries can continue to prosper, to end violence and save tens of thousands of lives,” he said. “President Trump believes in these alliances and is strengthening them.”
According to Dominican authorities, cooperation with Washington under Southern Lance has accelerated maritime surveillance and interdictions across the Caribbean amid growing concerns over the use of Dominican coasts as a transit corridor for South American cocaine. EFE
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