US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO3898

S E C R E T SANTO DOMINGO 003898 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
 
DEPT FOR WHA (SNIDLE), WHA/CAR (NICHOLS, SEARBY), PM; 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/02/2015 
TAGS: PARM, MASS, EAIR, ETTC, PREL, DR 
SUBJECT: MANPADS CONTROL AND SECURITY GUIDELINES - 
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 
 
REF: STATE 113041 
 
Classified By: Economic and Political Counselor Michael Meigs for Reaso 
ns 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
1. (S/NF) Summary:  There are no MANPADS in the weapons 
inventories of the armed forces of the Dominican Republic, 
nor are any known to exist within the country.  The Dominican 
Government does have import)export controls on arms 
purchases, but high levels of corruption call into question 
the effectiveness of these controls.  Corruption also results 
in poor control of stockpiles of other types of weapons.  End 
summary. 
 
2. (C) There are no Man-Portable Air Defense Systems 
(MANPADS), nor any components, spare parts, training systems, 
or simulators, in the weapons inventories of any of the three 
services of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic. 
There are no known MANPADS or associated components present 
within the Dominican Republic. 
 
3. (C) Representatives of the Dominican Armed Forces state 
that they have not ever made any effort to obtain MANPADS or 
associated systems and that neither the military services nor 
any criminal or terrorist groups in the country have obtained 
such weapons.  A database search of past reporting for 
MANPADS in the Dominican Republic within the last four years 
yielded nothing.  There are no known MANPADS present in the 
Dominican Republic to control, inventory, destroy, or 
transfer. 
 
4. (C) Authority to import or export arms, explosives, 
ammunition, or designated hazardous cargo requires 
authorization from the Office of the Secretary of State of 
the Armed Forces.  The existence of this requirement does not 
guarantee that all such items receive the required 
authorization.  The Armed Forces and police in the Dominican 
Republic are known for corrupt practices, and there have been 
many suspected and confirmed cases of involvement in the 
illegal smuggling of arms, ammunition, narcotics, persons, 
and contraband.  However, Embassy is unaware of any cases in 
which MANPADS were smuggled into or through the Dominican 
Republic. 
 
5. (S/NF) Embassy believes that the Dominican Republic's 
export and import controls on arms and munitions comply with 
the OAS MANPADS Guidelines.  However, should anyone attempt 
to transfer MANPADS into or out of the Dominican Republic, 
the controls could be circumvented because of inefficiency or 
incompetence on the part of the officials responsible; and if 
the items were detected, there is a high probability that the 
inspecting official might be induced by corrupt payoffs to 
let them proceed. 
KUBISKE