Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – Dominican authorities on Thursday incinerated 1,450 kilograms of cocaine seized in three maritime operations carried out this month along the countryโs southern coast, conducted in support of the United States-led Southern Lance anti-narcotics initiative.
The destruction took place one day after a visit to the island by United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The three interdictions, executed in the coastal province of Pedernales, were among the few operations linked to the US deployment in the Caribbean in which no fatalities were reported since the missionโs launch, officials said.
Authorities defend drug burning as a public health measure
Sonia Elizabeth Lebrรณn, director of the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF), which oversaw the drug burning at the First Infantry Brigade grounds in Santo Domingo, said the destruction of narcotics is essential to reducing their reach.
โEverything involving the destruction of controlled substances is fruitful because our mission is to prevent these substances from making it back onto the streets,โ Lebrรณn told EFE.
he cocaine incinerated on Thursday was part of broader seizures made as the US intensifies its efforts to destroy fast boats departing from South America, which Washington claims are bound for US shores.
Lebrรณn emphasised that each kilogram seized โmeans less impact on public health, especially for young people, who are frequent victims of drug trafficking networks.โ
She noted that the Dominican Republic remains vulnerable due to its geographic position, adding that the countryโs National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) and the Public Ministry have done โphenomenal workโ confronting transnational narcotics organisations.
So far this year, Inacif has destroyed more than 28,452 kilograms of drugs, the majority of them cocaine.
US to use Dominican airports in anti-narcotics effort
The incineration came a day after Dominican President Luis Abinader and Hegseth announced that the US will provisionally use two Dominican airports, Las Amรฉricas International Airport and the San Isidro military airfield, both in Santo Domingo, to support logistics for Operation Southern Lance.
Abinader said the facilities will host US equipment and technical personnel as part of Washingtonโs expanded operations in the Caribbean.
He offered few details but said the cooperation falls under โspecial permitsโ granted to the US under existing bilateral security protocols.
Hegseth, the first US secretary of war to visit the Dominican Republic officially, stressed that US counter-narcotics actions are the โonly languageโ understood by traffickers and terrorist groups.
โWe are defending our citizens. We seek security so our countries can continue to prosper, to end violence and save tens of thousands of lives,โ he said. โPresident Trump believes in these alliances and is strengthening them.โ
According to Dominican authorities, cooperation with Washington under Southern Lance has accelerated maritime surveillance and interdictions across the Caribbean amid growing concerns over the use of Dominican coasts as a transit corridor for South American cocaine.
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