Haiti - DR : Seizure of more than 100,000 packets of contraband cigarettes from Haiti
During an operation conducted on the "Tierra Nueva" road in the municipality of Jimaní (West of the Dominican Republic), by members of the Central Intelligence Directorate, the Dominican National Police and by members of the intelligence of the Directorate General of Customs in coordination with the Office of the Attorney General in charge of crimes and attacks on health, the Dominican National Police arrested a man, Leoni Feliz Valenzuela, while driving a truck towing a 40 ft. from Haiti.
During the inspection of the container, a large shipment of smuggled goods was found hidden under vegetables and seized : 159 cartons of cigarettes, Ahima brand (79,500) packets, 53 boxes of Capital brand cigarettes (26,500 packs), 3 cartons of cigarettes, Fency brand (1,500 packs) for a total of 2.15 million cigarettes and 225 plastic red baskets containing milk
According to the Dominican authorities, this shipment belonged to a criminal network specialized in the transport of large quantities of contraband goods generally hidden in containers filled with vegetables from Haiti to the Dominican Republic.
