Country Reports on Terrorism 2008 - Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is considered a transit point for suspected terrorists and extremists to Europe, Africa, and within the Western Hemisphere. Despite good intentions, the Dominican government lacked the ability to control its air, land, and sea borders fully, due in part to corruption and the mismanagement of resources. While many land border, freight, and airline hubs remained permeable, some strides were taken, such as the Container Security Initiative. The United States assisted Dominican Customs in:

• Establishing criteria to use non-intrusive inspection equipment to screen high risk

• maritime containers that could smuggle nuclear and radioactive material into U.S. ports;

• Identification of Port Caucedo as a Megaport and its certification as part of the Customs

• Trade Partnership Against Terrorism initiative; and

• Creating a counterterrorism task force to counter transnational insurgents involved in narcotics trafficking.

The United States provided training and equipment to Dominican agencies involved in counterterrorism efforts. It helped introduce biometrics equipment at the Headquarters of the Dominican National Police and other key locations, which enabled U.S. and Dominican authorities to receive timely biometric data from Dominican military, law enforcement, and judicial databases. It assisted with the training and development of an elite military hostage rescue team, and the Department of State's Antiterrorism Assistance program helped train a nationally deployable Police Explosives Ordinance Unit.