Dominican President Luis Abinader said his country will not tolerate Haitian gangs within about 20 kilometers of the border, speaking on Monday, October 26, on the weekly program LA Agenda Semanal broadcast by RTVD Canal 4, alongside Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Carlos Antonio Fernández Onofre, HaitiLibre reported.

“For us, security does not begin at our border,” Abinader said, adding that it begins about 20 kilometers inside Haiti and that the Dominican Republic would act in coordination with the Haitian government if gangs moved into that zone. He did not say what measures would be taken or how that coordination would work.

The defense minister said armed groups had not advanced toward Dominican entry points. He named two roads that need close attention: National Road 8, linking Jimaní to Port-au-Prince, and the road from Elías Piña toward Belladère, Lascahobas and Mirebalais in Haiti's Centre department, where he said gangs control some stretches.

Fernández Onofre added that no presence of the main Haitian criminal organizations had been detected near Dajabón, Pedernales or other border trade points.