U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth will visit the Dominican Republic on Wednesday amid Operation Southern Spear’s fight against drug trafficking.
The Department of War detailed that Hegseth will meet in Santo Domingo with Dominican President Luis Abinader, Defense Minister Carlos Antonio Fernández, and other officials to strengthen defense relationship between both countries and “America’s commitment to defend the homeland, protect our regional partners and ensure stability and security across the Americas.”
President Abinaner first announced Hegseth’s visit this week during his regular press conference and explained that the visit will serve to continue refining the Caribbean nation’s coordinated drug-fighting actions with the United States. This cooperation would reportedly focus on joint maritime surveillance mechanisms, information exchange, and an evaluation of routes used by criminal organizations.
The Dominican presidency stressed in an official statement that the countries have had a “successful” joint drug fighting collaboration, hoping that Hegseth’s visit will strengthen the results obtained so far. Abinader noted in his press conference that Hegseth’s visit marks the first time a War or Defense Secretary has officially visited the country and occurs amid the ongoing U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean to fight against drug trafficking cartels operating in the area.
President Abinader has also reportedly insisted that collaboration with the United States is “vital” to contain the increase in maritime drug trafficking surrounding Hispaniola, the island that the Dominican Republic shares with neighbor Haiti.
“We continue to work with the United States because this is a tough fight, especially with some countries that have increased drug production, particularly cocaine,” President Abinader said.
The Dominican Republic actively supports Operation Southern Spear, a military operation announced by Secretary Hegseth this month and led by the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) against narco-terrorists operating in the Western Hemisphere.
“This mission defends our homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our hemisphere and secures our homeland from the drugs that are killing our people,” Hegseth said at the time of its announcement.
Since the start of Operation Southern Spear, Dominican law enforcement officials, with the help of the United States Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF South) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), have successfully conducted two separate drug busting operations within the framework of the U.S. military operation. Both operations took place within hours of each other in mid-November.
The first of the two drug bust operations, the Dominican Republic’s National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) detailed, took place on November 15 and concluded with law enforcement successfully intercepting a boat with no name or registration number transporting 484 packages of presumptive cocaine. The packages reportedly amounted to almost 500 kilograms of drugs. Two men were arrested during the operation.
“The vessel, which according to reports had departed from South America bound for the Dominican coast, alerted the authorities, who implemented early response protocols to neutralize the boat, arrest its crew, and confiscate the stash of 484 packages,” DNCD’s announcement read.
The second operation took place hours later, on November 17, and led to the successful seizure of an additional 806 packages of presumptive cocaine aboard a 27-foot boat en route to the Dominican Republic. Three Dominican nationals were arrested during the operation. Both operations took place off the coast of the Dominican city of Pedernales. Officials also seized satellite radio, GPS, personal documentation, and other pieces of evidence throughout both drug bust operations with the support of the United States.
President Abinader recalled in his statement that the Dominican Republic, “at the initiative of the U.S.” presented the candidacy of DNCD Board member Leandro Villanueva as new director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) once current Director Ghada Waly, who stepped down from her position this year citing family reasons, ends her term next year.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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