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Inter-agency roundtable exercise in the Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo, July 8, 2021. The UNODC Global Maritime Crimes Programme conducted the first inter-agency tabletop exercise with the participation of 11 law enforcement officers from the Dominican Republic.

The objective of this exercise called "Barracuda I" was to strengthen the interoperability of the response against drug trafficking and transnational organized crime in the maritime domain between the agencies of the Dominican Republic and the United Nations.

As well as to promote the development of a joint interagency task force (JTFCA) comprised of military, police and civilian organizations to address illegal maritime trafficking in its various forms and to identify law enforcement capabilities to detect, deter and interdict drug trafficking and smuggling throughout the Caribbean.

The participants in this training are officers of the Dominican Navy, the Dominican Air Force, the National Department of Investigations, the National Drug Control Directorate, the National Drug Control Directorate, the General Directorate of Customs and the General Directorate of Immigration.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  This activity took place from July 5 to 7 and discussions were held based on scenarios developed to meet the objectives.

It was carried out thanks to funding from the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Office of the U.S. Embassy.

Maritime trafficking of drugs, migrants, arms and contraband has become the most common way for Latin American criminal groups to traffic cocaine internationally.

Between 70 and 80 percent of cocaine consumed worldwide is trafficked at some point by sea. The proportion of drugs trafficked through the Caribbean has more than tripled in the space of five years, with traffickers seeking new routes as a result of pressure from security forces in Central America and Mexico.