35 pounds of marijuana seized in transit at Las Américas airport
DNCD and airport security seized 35 pounds of marijuana at Las Américas airport in Boca Chica from foil-lined boxes sent from Montevideo and manifested to Switzerland. No arrests were reported and prosecutors opened an investigation into the transit shipment amid reinforced Holy Week controls.
🇩🇴 Aeropuerto Internacional de Las Américas, Boca Chica, Santo Domingo · Dominican Republic
No arrests were reported after the airport seizure, and the authorities opened
an investigation to identify those behind the shipment and its international
method.[1]The controlled opening was carried out under the direction of the
Public Ministry.[1]
Agents of the DNCD and CESAC seized 35 pounds (about 15.88 kg) of marijuana
during a cargo inspection at Las Américas International Airport.[1]Officers
found two full bags of the drug inside boxes lined with aluminium foil.[1]The
two boxes had come from Montevideo, Uruguay, and were flagged after scanners
showed irregular images.[1]A sniffer dog signalled the presence of illicit
substances inside the packages.[1]Officers then opened both boxes and the
DNCD reported the marijuana weighed a certified 35 pounds.[1]
The operation took place in a cargo depot in Boca Chica, Santo Domingo province.[1]Shipping documents in the name of a supposed company showed the boxes were
only transiting the Dominican Republic en route to Switzerland, as listed on the
cargo manifest.[1]The seizure came amid reinforced intelligence and control
measures at airports, ports and borders ordered recently by DNCD president
Vice-Admiral Jose M. Cabrera Ulloa for the high-traffic Holy Week period.[1]
Photos and video
DNCD and airport security officers with the seized 35 pounds of marijuana at Las Américas airport. Photo courtesy DNCD via Infobae.Photo details
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Cannabis
15.876 kg
Agency type
Police
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis (15.876 kg)
Setting
Airport, Vehicle
Case stage
Under investigation
Route
Uruguay → Switzerland via Dominican Republic
Sources
Infobaeinfobae.comESLas autoridades dominicanas incautan 35 libras de marihuana y cocaína en operativos en el aeropuerto de Las Américas
Open questions the AI reported
The article gives no separate calendar date for the marijuana seizure; 4 April 2026 is its publication date and is used as the incident date.
Only one accessible source for this event was opened; a second account or separate DNCD statement could not be opened.
No detentions, sender or recipient names, charges or court outcome were reported; the investigation was still under way.
The same article also reports a separate cocaine seizure of 12 sheets a day earlier at the same airport; that non-cannabis event is left out here and its weight is excluded from cannabis figures.
No value for the seized marijuana was published.
The page's second photo and second video show the separate cocaine seizure and are excluded; the remaining videos carry descriptions naming Elías Piña that do not establish they show this airport seizure, so no video entry is included.
The National Police said 28 people were detained in a preventive sweep across La Vega province on 30 October 2026, alongside soldiers and DNCD drug agents. Police reported 108 portions of suspected marijuana and eight knives, but gave no weight for the drug and no grounds for the detentions.
The DNCD reported seizing 11,065.01 kg of marijuana and 16.44 kg of hashish between April and June 2026, part of 16,671.16 kg of all drugs in its second-quarter statistical summary. The same operations produced 12,548 detentions, most of them in June, when San José de Ocoa accounted for 7,789.97 kg of marijuana.
Dominican anti-drug agents seized 11 packages of suspected marijuana hidden inside a bench seat shipped from Miami to Las Américas airport in Boca Chica. No arrests were reported, and the material was sent to the national forensics institute while prosecutors investigate those responsible and the shipment's destination.
Three Dominicans were detained off Baní after a 15-hour air-sea-land pursuit intercepted a 32-foot boat carrying 1,360 suspected cocaine packages and 30 blocks of apparent marijuana. The DNCD-led operation with US and Colombian support sent the 1,390 packages for forensic analysis, with the network investigation still open.
