The revenues collected by border customs offices remain marginal compared to the volume of Dominican exports to Haiti. Between October 2019 and January 2025, the "Analytical Table of Customs Revenues on Imports, Cash Basis of Border Offices" from Malpasse, Ouanaminthe, Belladères, Thomassique, and Anse-à-Pitres recorded nearly 11.2 billion gourdes (FOB) in revenue. Meanwhile, Dominican exports—excluding free trade zones—amounted to $3.135 billion USD from 2019 to 2024, according to data shared by customs authorities in the neighboring country. On the other hand, our sources emphasized that underreporting or under-invoicing is not the only issue. Some goods enter through smuggling without paying a single cent. The same goes for merchandise supposedly "in transit" to Haiti. In this way, importers evade duties in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti, one of our sources explained.

Smugglers have set up routes to transport goods to the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. Police officers are allegedly involved in securing smuggled goods, according to one of our sources, who expressed concerns about the porosity of the border. "There could be weapons and ammunition hidden among these smuggled goods," the source warned. In 2022, Belladères and Ouanaminthe surpassed the Malpasse office in terms of revenue collection, amid rising violence in Croix-des-Bouquets. Smuggled goods have triggered attacks on customs offices at the border, while seizures of weapons and ammunition remain very rare, we have also learned.