Authorities in the Dominican Republic have launched a sweeping enforcement push targeting road safety violations and organized criminal activity, with Interior and Police Minister Faride Raful outlining key progress and upcoming initiatives following a high-level strategic meeting on citizen security.
Led by Vice President Raquel Peña, the Citizen Security Plan meeting brought together top officials to coordinate ongoing efforts to curb road violence and restore public order across the country’s capital region. Raful confirmed that over the most recent weekend, joint enforcement operations across Greater Santo Domingo screened more than 19,000 motorcyclists as part of the national government’s long-running campaign to reduce reckless driving and traffic-related harm.
Of the motorcyclists inspected, more than 6,000 had their vehicles impounded for violations of national traffic laws. Common infractions included operating a motorcycle without required safety gear (most notably helmets), driving without valid registration or licensing documents, traveling on pedestrian sidewalks, and failing to stop at red traffic signals. These operations are centrally coordinated by the government’s dedicated Road Task Force, a interagency body that convenes on a weekly basis to refine and deploy new measures designed to cut down on reckless driving and violent incidents on public roadways. Raful emphasized that the intensified inspection regime will continue indefinitely, and stressed that all motorcyclists operating on Dominican roads are required to comply fully with existing traffic regulations.
Looking ahead, the minister announced that senior government officials will hold upcoming working sessions with multiple stakeholders, including representatives of local motorcycle taxi associations, leadership from the National Police, the National Institute of Traffic and Land Transportation (Intrant), and the Ministry of Public Works. The goal of these discussions is to establish clear, standardized regulations for motorcycle taxi pickup and drop-off points across urban areas, as well as to implement a systematic review to confirm that all licensed drivers have no outstanding arrest warrants or unresolved legal cases pending against them.
In a separate update on ongoing law enforcement actions, Raful confirmed that legal proceedings are moving forward against a motorcyclist charged with assaulting a driver employed by TRAE, the country’s national school transportation system. The case remains active as the judicial process progresses.
Beyond road safety initiatives, Raful also outlined new progress in the government’s crackdown on organized criminal networks operating in the country’s southern region. She highlighted a recent joint intervention carried out by the National Police and the Dominican Criminal Investigations Directorate (Dicrim) that targeted a well-established criminal syndicate operating across the Elías Piña and San Juan provinces.
Despite the success of the operation in disrupting the group’s activities, Ranller Encarnación Vicente, the alleged leader of the organization, remains at large. Encarnación Vicente already has a 30-year prison sentence in place for his conviction on a raft of violent charges, including multiple murders, arson, drug trafficking, and other serious violent offenses. Officials also issued a public call for Yunior Mena Vicente, another alleged member of the network who is currently wanted under arrest warrant No. 0093-2026, to turn himself in voluntarily to authorities.