Senior officials weigh in on Washington’s report on drug trafficking

Santo Domingo. – Some Government officials Thursday agreed with the US State Department report which said that Dominican society’s “endemic corruption” hobbles the war on drug trafficking.

Presidency Chief of staff Cesar Pina agreed that the corruption linked to drug trafficking is endemic, but also noted the Dominican Government’s efforts to fight it and to eradicate it from the center of authority.

He the Government’s effort is focused on fighting corruption.

For National Drugs Control Agency (DNCD) president Rolando Rosado, the report acknowledges Dominican Republic’s advances in the war on drug trafficking, mostly in interdictions and confiscations of major shipments. “It’s an example that we are advancing and the fruits of that work are tangible.”

He said the cooperation from the DNCD and other agencies with the US is easy to verify, “as show by the recognition in that report.”

Two senior officials disagree

On Thursday, Interior and Police minister Jose R. Fadul and Executive Branch adviser on drug trafficking Marino Vinicio (Vincho) Castillo rebuked the report

Castillo reiterated that “even politics” forms part of the problem of drug trafficking and that even the Sinaloa Cartel is here in the Dominican Republic.

For Fadul, the main problem is the high drug consumption in the US, for which he asked Washington to “curb” that addiction. “The US should start by curbing that consumption, because it’s causing problems here.”