In coordinated border surveillance and immigration enforcement missions carried out across two northern Dominican provinces, the Dominican Republic Army (Ejército de República Dominicana, ERD) has apprehended 47 Haitian nationals who entered the country without valid immigration documentation.
The operations, which leveraged modern drone technology to enhance situational awareness and detection capabilities, unfolded across targeted locations in Dajabón and Santiago Rodríguez provinces, both positioned near the Dominican-Haitian border that has long been a focal point for irregular migration activity.
In the first high-profile intercept, soldiers stationed at the Masacre border outpost, working alongside the military’s specialized drone unit, spotted and detained 16 undocumented migrants during routine area patrols. The group was composed of 14 adult men and two adult women, all of whom had crossed into Dominican territory without completing required immigration checks.
A second seizure took place in the Los Cañaverales sector of Los Miches, located within Dajabón province, when troops from the ERD’s 10th Infantry Battalion again used aerial surveillance to track and intercept another group of 14 unregistered Haitian nationals. That group included 13 men and one woman, bringing the total number of detentions in Dajabón to 30.
Further inland in Santiago Rodríguez province, troops assigned to the La Leonor detachment intercepted the final group of 17 migrants in the Coquí community, which sits along a common irregular entry route. This group included 15 adult men, one adult woman, and one unaccompanied minor, all caught immediately after crossing into Dominican territory illegally.
Following their detainment, all 47 migrants were first transferred to local military command centers for initial processing, before being formally handed over to the Dominican Republic’s General Directorate of Migration (DGM). The DGM will now oversee the official repatriation process, carried out in full compliance with the country’s existing immigration legislation.
In a statement outlining the mission, the ERD emphasized that it maintains 24/7 surveillance, mobile patrols, and targeted interdiction operations across the entire shared border and other high-risk areas under its jurisdiction. These persistent efforts are designed to curb unauthorized entry of foreign nationals, dismantle transnational criminal networks that profit from migrant smuggling, and reinforce overall Dominican national security.