DEA warns of increase drug trafficking in Caribbean

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Oct. 6, CMC – The United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has warned about increased drug trafficking in the Caribbean, saying that more cocaine is being smuggled into the United States after passing through the region.



The DEA said the heightened trafficking represents a major shift in the route after the region was largely abandoned decades ago.



The agency said 14 per cent of cocaine bound for the United States was trafficked through the Caribbean in the first half of this year, doubling the 7 per cent that came through the region during the corresponding period last year.



“What we’re seeing is that traffickers are increasing the amount of cocaine in each” shipment, said Vito S. Guarino, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Caribbean division.



“This is a shift toward the Caribbean,” he told reporters. “And the picture we’re looking at right now will be the picture for the next few years.”



In this light, the FBI said it had dismantled one of the most powerful gangs to operate in the Caribbean over the past two decades.