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Vista aérea al amanecer de una patrullera junto a una lancha rápida interceptada en aguas turquesas frente a una costa caribeña con palmeras
Imagen alusiva a la intercepción de una lancha rápida frente a la costa de Pedernales. · Imagen generada para EPM

Dominican Republic passes 34 tons of drugs seized so far in 2026

The seizure of a fast boat with 1,068 packages of presumed cocaine off Pedernales pushed the 2026 accumulated total above 34,000 kilograms, some 14.8 % more…

--- The context --- The coast of Pedernales has again been the scene of an operation against drug trafficking, and the seizure recorded there invites a look at the year as a whole. The Dominican Republic has accumulated so far in 2026 a volume of seized drugs that already exceeds everything recorded in the first ten months of the previous year, according to the National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD). --- The facts --- The most recent seizure involves a fast boat carrying 1,068 packages of presumed cocaine off the coast of Pedernales. With operations like that one, the year's total rises above 34,000 kilograms of narcotic substances, an amount equivalent to more than 34 tons, according to the institution's balance. The advance over last year is measurable: the 26,562.93 kilograms seized in the first ten months of that year have already been surpassed, by a difference of 3,936.94 kilograms, some 14.8 % more. In the first nine months of 2026, authorities recorded 30,499.87 kilograms, of which 15,932.99 were cocaine and 14,419.62 were marijuana, while the rest corresponded to crack, ecstasy, hashish and opium. The quarterly breakdown shows an uneven year. From January to March, 7,468.37 kilos were reported, with 6,388.37 of cocaine and 1,036.93 of marijuana. From April to June came the largest amount, 16,671.16 kilograms, of which 11,065.01 were marijuana and 5,542.47 cocaine. Between July and September, seizures reached 6,360.34 kilograms, with 4,002.14 of cocaine and 2,317.68 of marijuana. --- The positions --- DNCD spokesman Carlos Devers attributed the accumulated total to forceful blows by the security forces against transnational organized crime structures and argued, in attributed indirect remarks released by the institution, that the figures demonstrate the country's leadership in the fight against drug trafficking and its related crimes. --- What remains unknown --- The published balance does not detail the judicial course of the cargo seized off Pedernales, nor does it specify how the remaining substances are distributed within the first nine months' total. The closing stretch of the year is also still to come, and it will allow a like-for-like comparison between the full 2026 total and the previous year. --- Unanswered questions --- Will the pace of seizures set in the April-to-June quarter hold through the end of the year? What weight will cocaine carry in the final balance compared with marijuana? Will the DNCD publish a complete breakdown of the other substances seized during 2026? --- EPM analysis --- The figure that organizes the reading is the early surpassing: without the year being closed, the country has already beaten the first-ten-months record of last year in both cocaine, by 589.02 kilograms, and marijuana, by 3,321.24 kilograms. Last year cocaine led the seizures with 15,343.97 kilograms, 57.8 % of the total, followed by marijuana with 11,098.38 kilograms, 41.8 %. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, the 2026 accumulated total confirms sustained operational pressure on drug trafficking routes, with an exceptionally heavy second quarter and cocaine already past its previous year's mark. The challenge now is consolidation: that the seized volume translates into dismantled structures and a verifiable year-end closing, with complete data by substance and by operation, so that the leadership proclaimed by the DNCD rests on measurable results and not only on tons taken off the water.
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