Dominican Republic Migration Audit Cannot Find 150 Agency Vehicles

The border market hall in Dajabón, a Dominican town on the frontier with Haiti (file photo, 2023). The migration agency checks the crossing points along this border. (Photo: Lomero88, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · GOVERNMENT

A Dominican Republic migration audit has found that 150 vehicles belonging to the country’s migration agency could not be physically located. The vehicles are still registered to the agency with the tax authority, Diario Libre reported on Saturday 3 October.

The audit by the Comptroller General of the Republic, the state’s internal auditor, covers July 2021 to December 2025. It does not claim the vehicles were stolen, only that inspectors could not find them.

What the Auditors Found

The migration audit lists the missing units as trucks, vans, motorcycles and buses, according to Canal 6. All 150 still hold valid registrations with the General Directorate of Internal Taxes, the tax office that also records vehicle ownership.

During on-site checks, auditors could not see them. The report stops short of saying they were taken, Diario Libre noted.

The vehicles were not the only gap. Another 149 fixed assets appeared in the agency’s books but were not at their stated locations.

In a sample of 420 assets, 263 lacked the identification tags they should carry. Three vehicles removed from the accounts were still covered by insurance policies, Canal 6 reported.

Purchases Outside the Plan

Auditors also found about 50 purchases worth roughly RD$553 million (US$9.3 million) outside the agency’s annual procurement plan. Public bodies are expected to plan their buying in advance.

The agency, known by its Spanish initials DGM, said the extra purchases met extraordinary needs. Among them, it cited bringing in 750 new migration agents.

Smaller findings included RD$93,500 (US$1,570) in excess fuel allowances paid to 30 employees. The agency also had RD$3.5 million (US$58,700) in bills owed to suppliers for more than two years.

The report said several problems had already been corrected after the fieldwork, while others are being regularised, Canal 6 reported.

Peso amounts are converted at 59.59 Dominican pesos to the US dollar on 4 October 2026.

Why These Audits Are Coming Out Now

The migration audit was part of the first batch the Comptroller General published on Friday 2 October, covering 24 institutions. The Metropolitan Bus Service (OMSA) and the higher education ministry were also among them.

President Luis Abinader ordered the release after Diario Libre reported that hundreds of audits had been kept from the public. The newspaper said the comptroller’s office had refused to hand them over.

The released reports cover August 2020 to December 2025, roughly Abinader’s time in office. Diario Libre described the 2 October release as a first batch.

Who Ran the Agency

The audit period spans three directors. Enrique García ran the agency until August 2022, when Venancio Alcántara replaced him.

Abinader removed Alcántara in September 2024. By decree on 29 September he appointed Vice Admiral Luis Rafael Lee Ballester, who still heads the agency.

The report as published does not assign responsibility for the missing vehicles to any person. No one has been accused of wrongdoing, and the migration audit is an administrative review, not a criminal case.

Why the Migration Agency Matters

The General Directorate of Migration is one of the most visible arms of the Dominican state. It runs immigration checks at airports, seaports and land crossings with Haiti.

It also carries out the raids and deportations at the heart of Abinader’s policy on undocumented migrants, most of them Haitian. Its trucks and buses carry people detained in those operations.

Relations with Haiti are tense on several fronts, including football, as shown by the ban on Haiti’s national team on 2 October. The Dominican Republic Explained guide sets out the wider background.

What Comes Next

More audits are due to follow in further batches. Each release may bring similar findings at other public institutions.

For the agency, the migration audit leaves a simple question: where are the 150 vehicles? Neither the agency nor the comptroller has given a public account of their whereabouts.

The findings do not prove theft or fraud, and the agency says it is fixing the gaps. They do show how loosely public property can be tracked, even at an agency in the political spotlight.

More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

What did the Dominican Republic migration audit find?

Auditors could not physically find 150 vehicles registered to the migration agency. They also flagged about RD$553 million (US$9.3 million) in purchases made outside the annual buying plan.

Were the 150 vehicles stolen?

The migration audit does not say so. It says the vehicles are still registered to the agency but could not be located during physical inspections.

Who carried out the migration audit?

The Comptroller General of the Republic, the Dominican state’s internal auditor. It reviewed the migration agency’s accounts from July 2021 to December 2025.

Why are Dominican audits being published now?

President Luis Abinader ordered their release after Diario Libre reported that hundreds of audits had been withheld. The first batch of 24 came out on 2 October 2026.

Sources: Diario Libre, 3 October 2026; Canal 6, 3 October 2026; Diario Libre, 2 October 2026; Listín Diario, 29 September 2024; Diario Libre, 3 August 2022.

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief

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