Dominican, US officials trade papers to fast-track extradition pact

Santo Domingo.- The governments of the DominicanRepublic and the US on Thursday exchanged documents leading to an extradition agreementfor their citizens with legal issues.

The proposed pact calls for to more effectivecooperation between the two Governments and details the requirements andprocedure to hand over the persons requested in extradition.

Foreign minister Miguel Vargas delivered thetreaty for the Dominican Government, whereas US ambassador James W. Brewsterdid so for the United States.

During the ceremony in the Foreign AffairsMinistry, Vargas said from now on both states are obliged to extradite for crimesthat weren’t considered as such 50 years ago, including high technology crime,terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering. "It’s an example of thebilateral relations between the two countries which are at their best today."

Brewster

For his part, the US envoy said the treatyconfirms Washington’s commitment to work with Dominican law enforcement agencies."The modification of the treaty was more than necessary, since it expandsthe range of extraditable offenses and will allow us to bring more criminals tojustice than ever before."