In a major coordinated crackdown on transnational human trafficking operating out of popular Dominican tourist destinations, law enforcement agencies have rescued 62 women who were being held as victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The targeted operation, which focused on the high-traffic coastal resort areas of Cabarete and Sosúa in the Puerto Plata province, unfolded this week as a joint effort between multiple specialized Dominican security and justice bodies.
Leading the intervention was the Joint Specialized Investigation Unit Against the Illicit Trafficking of Migrants and Related Crimes, which partnered closely with the Puerto Plata Prosecutor’s Office and the country’s Department of Transnational Crimes Investigations, commonly abbreviated as DEIDET. Acting on intelligence gathered through months of investigation, the teams carried out seven court-sanctioned search warrants across properties linked to the alleged criminal ring, resulting in the arrest of six suspects tied to the exploitation network.
The group of detainees includes three Dominican citizens: Franklin Alberto García Brito, Rosa Iris Almarante, and Belkis María Salas Díaz de Heinsen; a Dominican individual identified only as Lurdes or Louders; Haitian national Nehemie Granicher; and Spanish national Peter Granicher. All six face formal allegations of involvement in organized commercial sexual exploitation and illegal pimping, according to official statements from the lead agencies.
Of the 62 women rescued from the network, 51 are Dominican citizens and 11 are Haitian migrants, a demographic that is particularly vulnerable to exploitation by criminal trafficking rings operating along border and tourist regions. Immediately following the rescue operation, all survivors were transferred to the victim assistance unit under the Attorney General’s Office, where they are now receiving specialized protection, trauma support, and social services to aid their recovery.
The operation marks one of the largest anti-trafficking rescues in the region in recent months, shining a light on the persistent problem of sexual exploitation linked to transnational criminal networks that target vulnerable women in the Dominican Republic’s booming tourist sector. Law enforcement officials have indicated that the investigation into the full scope of the network remains ongoing, with additional potential arrests expected as evidence continues to be processed.