Authorities in the Dominican Republic announced Tuesday that they have seized a significant cache of weapons and ammunition from a Miami shipment intended for Haiti.
The haul included 36,000 cartridges, 23 firearms, over two dozen rifle and pistol magazines, a submachine gun, and a charger for a .50-caliber rifle, according to a statement from the Dominican customs office.
Officials stated that the investigation is ongoing and that they are collaborating with agencies such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This latest seizure follows a recent operation at the same port in the capital, Santo Domingo, where Dominican agents confiscated 37 weapons.
The weapons bust coincides with an intensifying crisis in Haiti, where gang violence has surged in the capital, Port-au-Prince, displacing thousands. The International Organization for Migration has reported that more than 25,000 people fled their homes in the past two weeks alone, and the United Nations notes that over 5,600 people were killed in Haiti last year as a result of gang-related violence.
With gangs now controlling more than 80% of the capital, the situation in Haiti continues to worsen, contributing to a growing influx of refugees into neighboring countries, including the Dominican Republic.
In response to the ongoing instability, the Dominican Republic has ramped up border security. The Dominican Army reported transferring 90,018 undocumented Haitian nationals to the General Directorate of Migration over the past six months as part of a broader effort to combat illegal immigration and human trafficking. Additionally, the country has been carrying out mass deportations, with more than 276,000 Haitians sent back in 2024 alone.
These deportations are part of the Dominican Republic’s broader immigration enforcement strategy, which also saw the confiscation of over 1,200 vehicles used in human trafficking operations. Despite the political and social crisis in Haiti, the Dominican government has made clear its commitment to maintaining stringent border controls.
The latest arms seizure, combined with the mass deportations and border enforcement efforts, underscores the growing tension between the two countries, as the Dominican Republic seeks to balance national security with the humanitarian challenges posed by the ongoing crisis in Haiti.
