Youth Gangs Proliferate in the Dominican Republic

Criminal gangs in the Dominican Republic gangs have been proliferating in recent years. Since 2022, according to figures provided by the National Council for Children and Adolescents (Conani), alarming figures have detected high rates of criminal behavior in young and minor age groups.

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According to this report, some 308 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 are inmates in prisons and juvenile centers. When getting into details, it was proofed that in 2022 the custodial centers had 132 adolescents accused of robberies, including 50 minor age ones accused of homicide. This figure also includes 32 adolescents arrested for allegedly committing physical assaults, followed by 10 young people accused of attempted homicide, and many others for drug-related crimes.

These gangs impose dues on their members and adhere to strict standards of behavior and performance.

The level of organization of these gangs has been growing over time. Today they hold regular meetings in which criminal activities are planned and coordinated, ties are strengthened, key information is shared, and structures are even recycled.

The use of social networks, however, is narrowing the differences between the social situations of the different countries of the continent, which created a kind of globalization of the criminal imaginary. The information and communication, direct and indirect, that has been generated in social networks, about the different forms of criminal organization, is allowing youth gangs from less developed countries to acquire organizational skills that they do not have access to in their origin communities.