Castro: Cartel Sinaloa, RD

The Dominican authorities have been detected in the North of its territory cells of drug Lord Mexican Sinaloa cartel, said yesterday Wednesday Caribbean Ambassador during a legislative hearing in United States.

Ambassador Anibal de Castro noted to appear before the Senate Committee for the international control of drug trafficking, that a Mexican named Luis Fernando Bertolucci Castillo confessed after his capture that the Sinaloa cartel "seeks to create a route to Europe via Dominican Republic".

Following his arrest and interrogation, Bertolucci was extradited to United States, where faces charges of money laundering from drug trafficking of.

Diplomat linked to this organization, which could be operating in Santiago, La Vega and Jarabacoa, with the recent murders of three Colombians, a Spanish and a Venezuelan, and noted that the Sinaloa Cartel can "be receiving assistance from criminal groups" u000a"Dominicans in the region of Cibao to acquire chemicals used in the manufacture of narcotics".

Cooperation
of Castro spoke in positive terms of counter-narcotics cooperation his Government received from the US authorities, but described as crucial the establishment of a Regional Control Centre and count on radars of enhanced capacity to improve the monitoring of air, especially along the border with Haiti.

Also mentioned requirements for the Dominican authorities, such as equipment for communications, technology platforms, hardware and software for espionage work, fast boats, mechanisms for border control and naval radars.

De Castro complained about the great impact that represent for Dominican society 4,000 criminals deported by United States in 2011, an increase over the 3,100 2010. He pointed out that there are "serious concerns about the" u000a"frequent failures of the US authorities with regard to share all of the criminal background of the deportees".

According to a report on drug trafficking of 2010 in the U.S. Department of State, 3% of all of the cocaine that reaches United States passes through the island of Hispaniola, which Dominican Republic with Haiti.

The official said that Santo Domingo signed a contract with Israel for a new radar system, whose implementation has been delayed by budgetary cuts.

requested for fiscal year 2012 $ 36 million for bilateral cooperation to Dominican, after having assigned 49 million in 2010. Also requested $ 73 million for the security initiative for the Caribbean (CBSI for its acronym in English), of whom 24 per cent would be for anti-narcotics work and 33% for military assistance.

In 2010, the Dominican Republic received about six u000amillions of dollars in the CBSI and the Gobiern or the regional total.

To the diplomat, the amount disbursed by the us to combat traffickers in Dominican Republic is "insufficient". Only in the purchase of eight Brazilian aircraft for interception operations, the Dominican Republic has spent around 100 million dollars, he said.

"Many more resources are needed, and we should be equal in what it has to do with those resources" and look at the Dominican Republic on this audience recognition that its anti-drug resources are low "and represent a great sacrifice for us because them we are diverting other needs," observed Castro.

Also the Dominican Ambassador defended the anti-drug fight achievements in his country, among them the seizure of 6.7 tons of cocaine in 2011, which is equivalent to an increase of 48% of the volume seized on 2010.

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A shared responsibility
The US Government must take "more responsibility" in the fight against drugs and increase resources devoted to combating that problem in the Caribbean, said Anibal de Castro. "We see the fight against drug trafficking as a responsibility shared... and let us not forget that the fate of the majority of drugs is us as a major market," said the diplomat before entering a hearing in Senate on fighting drug in the Caribbean.

"Look forward to with this appearance in the Senate will help us to assume greater responsibility in the fight against drug trafficking," stressed De Castro. Last September, United States pointed out to the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica as major countries for the transit of drugs in the Caribbean.

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