Truck carrying 40 Haitians detained in Hatillo Palma, Montecristi

Santo Domingo, DR.
A truck was detained this Saturday while transporting in its interior dozens of Haitian nationals in the municipal district of Hatillo Palma in the province of Monte Cristi.

The truck was carrying more than forty Haitian nationals in the back of the truck, who were all hiding.

This situation reinforces the tension that exists regarding the trafficking and smuggling of migrants in the border areas of the country, and the recently organized network called Operation Border, dismantled by the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office Against the Illicit Smuggling of Migrants and Trafficking in Persons (PETT) in conjunction with the Prosecutor’s Office of Monte Cristi.

There are 11 detainees in the case whose request for coercive measures was scheduled to be heard this past Friday, February 24.

The hearing was postponed because the lawyers of two of the accused requested additional time to study the file and prepare their means of defense since the document had not been notified to them.

The investigation, which has been ongoing for approximately one year and five months, has identified 15 defendants, among them five military personnel and ten civilians.