Wednesday, 2 February, officials from the immigration department (la Dirección General de Migración) came to Sosúa to check on illegal practices.
Officers checked bars and restaurants on the possession of the necessary permits and if they pay all their taxes.
Ministerio de Interior y Policía
A number of businesses were fined because they did not meet these requirements.
Furthermore, officials were looking for foreigners staying here illegally and are on the Interpol list.
The following day they went to Cabarete for the same reason.
Here quite a few businesses were fined because they had foreigners employed for example as cook or waitress, without a work permit.
But the overzealous officials also fined innocent tourists, which appears to be a mistake according to the spokesman of Migración.
For that they offer apologies and the tourists can rest assured that it will not happen again.
Some info about stay in DR:
Tourists who want to stay longer in the Dominican Republic than 30 days must pay a fee when leaving the country.
See the list.