Authorities from the Dominican Republic’s General Directorate of Customs (DGA) have made a landmark seizure of illegal ammunition at the Haina Oriental Customs Administration, uncovering 74,100 rounds hidden inside eight truck engines. This operation stands as the largest single ammunition confiscation carried out by the agency in the past four years.
Officials confirmed that the illegal shipment was split between two common calibers: 64,420 rounds of 9mm ammunition, and 9,680 rounds of .38-caliber ammunition. The cache was detected during standard, targeted risk-management and inspection protocols that DGA teams implement to block high-risk, dangerous goods from entering the country and circulating within Dominican territory, where unauthorized weapons and ammunition pose a persistent threat to public safety.
The 74,100-round haul easily outpaces the agency’s previous record seizure, which took place in February 2025. During that earlier operation, authorities intercepted just under 36,000 rounds of ammunition, including 20,000 rounds of 7.62mm and 16,000 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition.
Immediately after the ammunition was discovered, DGA officials transferred the full case to the Dominican Public Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutors have since launched an active investigation, carrying out three coordinated simultaneous raids alongside other law enforcement agencies to track down the network behind the smuggling attempt.