The Dominican government announced on Monday that homicides related to crime in the country declined by 23% and robberies by 16% in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2022.Speaking at a press conference, Minister of the Presidency Joel Santos shared statistics compiled from January to June, revealing a 9% reduction in deaths resulting from social conflicts.Regarding the fight against drug trafficking, the National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) has seen a 44% improvement in combating this issue.Additionally, the police have successfully confiscated nearly 5,000 firearms in the past 18 months, including 3,197 of illegal origin.Santos provided details of a meeting led by President Luis Abinader, where he assured that assaults have decreased by 19% in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year.The meeting involved top security authorities and representatives from the Public Ministry.Crime is often identified as a major concern by Dominicans, as indicated by various surveys.The senior official emphasized that during the three months of Abinader’s government, there have been more drug seizures than in the previous 16 years under the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) administration.Specifically, Santos mentioned that the current administration has seized 92 tons of different types of drugs, surpassing the 77 tons seized in the previous 16 years.