287 people arrested in Los Haitises for environmental crimes

SANTO DOMINGO (Dominican Republic). – In the intervention operation carried out by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MMARN) in Los Haitises National Park since Tuesday, 280 Haitian immigrants and seven Dominicans have been arrested and handed over to the immigration authorities and the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the corresponding purposes.

The director of the National Environmental Protection Service (Senpa), Captain René Rodríguez Álvarez, explained that the seven Dominicans arrested by the military troops were handed over to the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Defense of the Environment and Natural Resources (Proedemaren) for their submission to the courts.

Rodríguez Álvarez indicated that 16 animals were seized inside the park and 49 conucos were seized.
Also confiscated were two outboard motors and two boats that were illegally fishing in the Samaná Bay area, as well as seven tools.

The troops, who entered the park through Pilancón, Los Limones, Laguna Cristal and Sabana de la Mar, dismantled 12 shacks.

The intervention operation carried out by the Environment, in coordination with the Public Prosecutor’s Office and under the operational direction of Senpa, includes the participation of the General Directorate of Immigration and other government agencies.

The Army, the Navy and the Air Force of the Dominican Republic, as well as the National Police, the National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD), the National Investigations Department (DNI), the Joint Task Force Ciudad Tranquila (FTC-Ciutran) and the Military and Police Commission (Comipol) are participating in the intervention.

In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Council for Children (Conani), the General Directorate of Livestock, the Social Assistance Plan of the Presidency and the Economic Canteens of the Dominican State.

The military personnel alone exceed 200 men and women, distributed in five task forces, under the command of National Army Colonel Alejandro Santana Mota.