Military foils Haitian smugglers’ tricks

Santiago, DR
Traffickers of undocumented Haitians resort to various methods to circumvent the vigilance of the authorities and achieve the safe transport of illegals.

Even for these purposes, some of these lawbreakers use tanker trucks used to sell bulk water, but even so, their illicit skill has been aborted because the intelligence agencies of the Dominican Army in the Northwest have them under surveillance, senior military commanders told the Listin Diario.

The undocumented immigrants use the sea, lakes, agricultural plots, mountains, and other places to settle in Dominican territory, especially in Santiago, Greater Santo Domingo, Mao, Puerto Plata, La Vega, Bonao, and others.

The Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office are investigating two persons concerning the death of four undocumented Haitians who drowned when they allegedly drowned in a dinghy carrying eight persons in the Monción dam in the province of Santiago Rodriguez.

Reports gathered on the scene indicate that the victims were being transported covertly from the community of Loma del Tanque, in Monción, to Corocito, in San José de las Matas, Santiago province.

Haitians consulted said that their compatriots used this route to travel to Santiago de los Caballeros, where they had relatives, due to the extensive military patrols in the Northwest zone, as well as the drastic actions of the guards, who chase and apprehend illegal foreigners everywhere and hand them over to the Immigration authorities for their repatriation.

Surprised, the prosecutor of Monción, Maura Gómez, proclaimed that she did not know that this reservoir was used to transport illegal aliens.

“This is ugly before the guards used to take rooms, but not anymore when we offer them money they get angry and take us prisoners, saying that they are not going to have problems and that they are not going to lose their ranks because of a horse,” said Gerson Pierre Joseph, a Haitian who for 13 years has been dedicated together with a Dominican to the traffic of his compatriots across the border.

The commander of the Fourth Brigade of the Dominican Army based in Mao, colonel German Rosario Perez, revealed to Listin Diario that the traffickers of undocumented foreigners through the Northern border zone have no place because the intelligence organizations already know all their tricks.

In this context, he said that the vigilance remains firm and reinforced in all the places usually used to transfer undocumented people.

Controls
Military officials assure that there are rigorous processes of surveillance and observation in all the military posts checks of the vehicles that go from the border to other zones, such as Santiago, Puerto Plata, Gran Santo Domingo, and other parts.

They also say that there are permanent patrols in the mountains roads and that they search houses and abandoned constructions that could be used as hiding places for illegal Haitians.