Those fugitives fled to the Dominican Republic across the porous border and evade any police pursuit in Haiti.

Several Dominican drug traffickers and other criminals who were serving time for crimes in Haiti returned to the country after escaping from prisons in Port Prince and Cape Haitien. Newspaper Listin, quoting a Police Criminal Intelligence source, reports that dozens of Haitian convicts came to the country with them, whom the Dominican authorities now try to locate.

More than 1,000 in the country

Police Criminal Intelligence estimates that more than 1,000 Haitian fugitivies are in the country, convicted mostly of murder, aggravated assault and kidnapping of Haitian businesspersons, dignitaries and volunteer foreigners, whose governments have paid numerous ransoms for their release.

The number may be much higher however, since the Haitian government reported that around 3,500 inmates escaped from their jails during the quake and few very have been recaptured.

“In Haiti the chaos continues, the Police nor the courts work, and the jails have yet to be refurbished,” the source said. “They have provided us photos and data on hundreds of fugitives who entered the Dominicana Republic.”

Listin also reports that the Armed Forces, the Immigration Agency, the National Investigations Department (DNI) and the National Police, in coordination with the Justice Ministry, have traced a plan to locate, apprehend and extradite all Haitian fugitives in Dominican territory.

Dominican Watchdog Note:

To the above text: "Police Criminal Intelligence estimates that more than 1,000 Haitian fugitivies are in the country, convicted mostly of murder, aggravated assault and kidnapping of Haitian businesspersons, dignitaries and volunteer foreigners, whose governments have paid numerous ransoms for their release"......

There has only been a couple of kidnapping cases of foreigners living in the DR the last 2 years, Lets hope it will stay so. Anyway let's not forget that the problems the Dominican Republic have with Haitians is nothing compared to the problems the United States have with illegal Dominicans and their crimes!

Sometimes its good to put things in the right perspective! Remember recent article "20,000 Dominican criminals have been deported from the US in the last ten years" and that only those who got caught!

Mixing 1000 Top Haitian criminals with 20,000 ex convicts from the US and the rest of the criminals in the DR is not making the Dominican Republic a safer place for tourists. They are very easy prey for these hardcore criminals.

Read also: US Embassy: Crime continues to be a problem throughout the Dominican Republic

Too many tourists killed in the Dominican Republic