SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — People who force others into prostitution and clients of prostitute will face arrest in the Dominican Republic as part of a crackdown on sex trafficking in the Caribbean country, the attorney general said Wednesday.

Prostitution has long been practiced openly in much of the Dominican Republic but the trafficking of people for the sex trade, both within the country and overseas, has become so widespread that the government believes it must now impose controls on the industry, Attorney General Francisco Dominguez said.