Editing Dominican Republic (section)

===Crime===
{{Main|Crime in the Dominican Republic}}
In 2012, the Dominican Republic had a [[List of countries by intentional homicide rate|murder rate]] of 22.1 per 100,000 population.<ref name="UNODC" /> There was a total of 2,268 murders in the Dominican Republic in 2012.<ref name="UNODC">{{cite web|url=https://www.unodc.org/gsh/en/index.html|title=UNODC: Global Study on Homicide|work=[[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]]|date=2013|access-date=August 24, 2016|archive-date=June 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602171852/http://www.unodc.org/gsh/en/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Dominican Republic has become a trans-shipment point for Colombian drugs destined for Europe as well as the United States and Canada.<ref name="CIADemo" /><ref name="NYT" /> Money-laundering via the Dominican Republic is favored by Colombian drug cartels for the ease of illicit financial transactions.<ref name="CIADemo" /> In 2004, it was estimated that 8% of all cocaine smuggled into the United States had come through the Dominican Republic.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ribando |first=Claire |title=Dominican Republic: Political and Economic Conditions and Relations with the United States. |publisher=CRS Report for Congress |date= March 5, 2005 |url=https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/46402.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050528113353/http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/46402.pdf |archive-date=2005-05-28 |url-status=live |access-date=May 29, 2007 }}</ref> The Dominican Republic responded with increased efforts to seize drug shipments, arrest and extradite those involved, and combat money-laundering.

The often-light treatment of violent criminals has been a continuous source of local controversy. In April 2010, five teenagers, aged 15 to 17, shot and killed two taxi drivers and killed another five by forcing them to drink drain-cleaning acid. On September 24, 2010, the teens were sentenced to prison terms of three to five years, despite the protests of the taxi drivers' families.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11404313 | work=BBC News | title=Teenagers jailed for taxi drivers' murder | date=September 24, 2010 | access-date=January 11, 2024 | archive-date=November 22, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122180548/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11404313 | url-status=live }}</ref>