The 'Queen of Heroin' and Zero Tolerance Policies in the Dominican Republic

• In Event: Comparative Perspectives on Policing and Surveillance

Abstract

This paper describes social interactions between La Vieja, a 76 year old female large-scale heroin dealer in Santo Domingo; residents from the drug-ridden Capotillo community; and Dominican law enforcement agencies. Focusing on La Vieja as a case study, the author presents a nuanced, alternative perspective of female narco heroin dealers. In the midst of rampant police corruption, endemic economic crisis resulting from official neoliberal measures, and a conspicuous fear of crime discourse, public characters such as La Vieja actually help to sustain social order in the barrio, while challenging patriarchal expectations about familial and occupational roles. The aims of this study are three-fold: a) it problematizes classical paradigms of hegemonic masculinity in the drug-trafficking business; b) it presents an alternative view of female narco-dealers, one that acknowledges positive personality traits that have been largely ignored in previous scholarship; c) it connects Mano Dura policies and the militarization of marginal urban barrios in Santo Domingo to the successful career of individuals such as La Vieja, who fulfill a matriarchal role in the midst of generalized, government-sanctioned repression.

Author

• Yolanda Martin, BMCC, City University of New York