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The Dominican Republic Army stopped a large cigarette smuggling operation in Montecristi province. They found 6,796,000 illegal cigarettes hidden in two vehicles—a Ford F-150 pickup truck and a Mitsubishi Montero SUV.
The Ford truck had 5 million Capital brand cigarettes. The jeep had 1,796,000 Jaisalmer Menthol cigarettes. Neither shipment was registered with the country’s customs agency.
The drivers ran away when they saw the soldiers. The army took the cigarettes and vehicles to the 4th Infantry Brigade headquarters. Later, they handed everything over to the fuel control agency (CECCOM) for further investigation.
The unit, which operates under the Ministry of Defense but works closely with other government agencies, especially in cross-border and coastal enforcement, seized nearly 7 million smuggled cigarettes from two abandoned vehicles in Montecristi, later turning them over to authorities for investigation.
It is not clear where the Capital brand cigarettes came from, since this is not a recognized international brand marketed by a major company.
The Dominican Republic is known as a Caribbean hub for tobacco smuggling,
Smuggled cigarettes in the Dominican Republic often originate from neighboring countries, particularly Haiti. The porous border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti facilitates the illegal movement of goods, including tobacco products. Additionally, counterfeit and untaxed cigarettes from other regions may enter the Dominican market through maritime routes.
Since Montecristi is a fishing port on the north coast of the Dominican Republic and not far from the border with Haiti, it seem probable that the cigarettes arrived by sea.
Once inside the Dominican Republic, smuggled cigarettes are distributed through clandestine networks. Major urban centers like Santo Domingo and Santiago serve as primary distribution hubs, from which the illicit products are disseminated to smaller towns and rural areas.
The cigarettes are often sold in informal markets, street stalls, and small retail outlets, bypassing the collection of government taxes.
The latest seizure was just one of a series of seizures carried out by this specialist frontier unit of the Dominican armed forces.
Sources: Listin Diario, Dominican Today, OpenAI.
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