Agents of the DNCD, the Dominican drug-control agency, working with the Public Ministry and police officers, arrested 169 people during a week of operations against microtrafficking in the country’s Norte and Nordeste regions.[1][2][3] Of the 169 detained, 168 were men and one was a woman.[1] The authorities carried out 1,468 operations and 17 searches in the provinces of Santiago, Espaillat, Puerto Plata, María Trinidad Sánchez, Samaná and Duarte, targeting drug distribution and sales points.[1][2][3]

Officers seized 29,787.3 grams of suspected drugs in all, of which 2,077.1 grams was marijuana.[1][2][3] In Santiago, including Navarrete and Santiago Oeste, 321 operations and four searches led to 44 arrests and the seizure of 868.5 grams of marijuana.[1][2] In San Francisco de Macorís, Duarte, 315 operations and three searches produced 29 arrests and 386.1 grams of marijuana.[1] In María Trinidad Sánchez, 409 operations and three searches led to 28 arrests, including one woman, and the seizure of 461.8 grams of marijuana.[1] In Samaná, 200 interventions led to 25 arrests and the seizure of 158.3 grams of marijuana.[1] In Puerto Plata, 98 operations and seven searches led to 25 arrests and the seizure of 120.5 grams of marijuana.[1]

In Espaillat, 125 operations led to 18 arrests and the seizure of portions of marijuana alongside 1,359.6 grams of suspected cocaine.[1] Officers also seized RD$45,265 in cash, four US dollars, euro notes, 36 mobile phones, seven radios, five digital scales, three motorcycles, cutting tools and a bulletproof vest.[1] The detainees and the evidence were handed to the Public Ministry in the corresponding jurisdictions for legal proceedings.[1][2] The DNCD said the operations were part of its joint work with the Public Ministry to combat microtrafficking and dismantle drug distribution points in communities around the country.[1]

In María Trinidad Sánchez, mainly in Nagua, 409 operations and three searches led to 28 arrests, including 27 men and one woman, and the seizure of 461.8 grams of marijuana.[2]