US Donates $8 Million Plane to Dominican Republic ’to Combat Narcotrafficking’

The Dominican Republic’s strategic location in the Caribbean makes it a crucial link in the international drug trade.

Jose Mendoza, head of Colombia's anti-narcotics police, throws pamphlets offering rewards for information leading to the capture of members of the Gulf Clan cartel, as part of the Agamemnon anti-drug trafficking operation in Apartado, Colombia, on May 31, 2017. Raul Arboleda /AFP/Getty Images

The United States government donated an $8 million plane to the Dominican Republic to aid in the fight against drug trafficking, according to the U.S. Embassy in that country.

The donation of the Cessna model aircraft, made through the Department of Defense, highlights what the embassy says is the ongoing commitment between the two countries to dismantle illicit drug networks and provide humanitarian disaster relief.