CUN-HAV Enjoy Travel Group
AVA Resorts
blackanddecker
Los Portales
Realidad Turística
Walmart
INTERFER
Barceló Solymar
Cubasol
Herbalife
MAD-HAV Enjoy Travel Group
Intecap
Grupo Hotelero Islazul
Instituto Hondureño de Turismo
Agexport
INOR
Cervecería Centroamericana S.A.
Servicios Médicos Cubanos
Nestle
Tigo
Centro Nacional de Cirugía de Mínimo Acceso de Cuba

UN: Sophisticated Weapons Being Smuggled to Haiti from US

Date:

Share:

Herbalife
Instituto Hondureño de Turismo
INTERFER
Nestle
AVA Resorts
Los Portales
Intecap
Servicios Médicos Cubanos
Cervecería Centroamericana S.A.
blackanddecker
INOR
Realidad Turística
Centro Nacional de Cirugía de Mínimo Acceso de Cuba
Grupo Hotelero Islazul

Haiti has long been a trans-shipment hub to move cocaine, cannabis and to a lesser extent heroin and amphetamines to the United States and the Dominican Republic, says UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Increasingly sophisticated weapons are being trafficked into Haiti mainly from the United States and especially from Florida amid worsening lawlessness in the impoverished Caribbean nation, according to a UN report.

The report, released on Friday, by the Vienna-based Office on Drugs and Crime said a network of criminal actors including members of the Haitian diaspora “often source firearms from across the US” and smuggle them into Haiti illegally by land from the neighbouring Dominican Republic, by air including to clandestine airstrips, but most frequently by sea.

“Popular handguns selling for $400-$500 at federally licensed firearms outlets or private gun shows in the US can be resold for as much as $10,000 in Haiti,” the report said. “Higher-powered rifles such as AK47s, AR15s and Galils are typically in higher demand from gangs, commanding correspondingly higher prices.”

The US Department of Homeland Security’s investigations unit reported “a surge in firearms trafficking from Florida to Haiti between 2021 and 2022” and a spokesman described the recovery of increasingly sophisticated weapons destined for Haitian ports “including .50 caliber sniper rifles, .308 rifles, and even belt-fed machine guns,” according to the report.

“Weapons are frequently procured through straw man purchases in US states with looser gun laws and fewer purchasing restrictions” and then transported to Florida where they are concealed inside consumer products, electronic equipment, garment linings, frozen food items and even the hull of freighters, it said. “On arrival in Haiti, including major hubs such as Port-de-Paix and Port-au-Prince, cargo is offloaded and passed on to end-users via a host of intermediaries.”

‘Increasingly targeted by gangs’

The 47-page report, entitled “Haiti’s Criminal Markets: Mapping Trends in Firearms and Drug Trafficking,” cites the challenges of patrolling 1,771 kilometers (1,100 miles) of Haiti’s coastline and a 392-kilometre (243-mile) border with the Dominican Republic with national police, border and coast guard operations that are severely under-staffed, under-resourced and “increasingly targeted by gangs.”

The heavily-armed gangs are also targeting ports, highways, critical infrastructure, customs offices, police stations, court houses, prisons, businesses and neighborhoods, the report said.

And throughout 2022 and early 2023 they have expanded their control over key access points to cities including the capital Port-au-Prince.

“Many are also engaged in predatory behaviour in communities under their control contributing to rising levels of extortion, sexual violence, kidnapping and fatal violence,” it said, citing an increase in homicides from 1,615 in 2021 to 2,183 in 2022, and a doubling of kidnappings from 664 to 1,359 during the same period.

The UN report said private security companies in Haiti are permitted to buy and keep arms, and while independent verification isn’t possible “specialists speculate that there could be 75,000 to 90,000 individuals working with roughly 100 private security companies across the country, at least five times the number of registered police officers.”

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Haiti has long been a trans-shipment hub to move cocaine, cannabis and to a lesser extent heroin and amphetamines to the United States and the Dominican Republic.

The drugs mostly enter the country via boat or plane, arriving through public, private and informal ports as well as clandestine runways.

During the 2000s, the report said, drug traffickers moved illegal airstrips from the outskirts of Port-au-Prince northward to more isolated areas including Savane Diane, roughly 50 miles north of the capital.

When then-President Jovenal Moïse ordered the destruction of suspected clandestine airstrips in June 2021, UNODC said “local authorities refused.” A week later, he was assassinated.

Since the assassination, UN officials said gangs have grown more powerful, and gang violence has reached a level not seen in decades.

In December, the UN estimated that gangs-controlled 60 percent of Haiti’s capital, but most people on the streets in Port-au-Prince say that number is closer to 100 percent. (AP)

INOR
Realidad Turística
Herbalife
Walmart
blackanddecker
Barceló Solymar
Grupo Hotelero Islazul
Cubasol
Cervecería Centroamericana S.A.
MAD-HAV Enjoy Travel Group
INTERFER
Instituto Hondureño de Turismo
Agexport
Los Portales
CUN-HAV Enjoy Travel Group
Nestle
Servicios Médicos Cubanos
Intecap
Centro Nacional de Cirugía de Mínimo Acceso de Cuba
Tigo
AVA Resorts
Intecap
Havanatur
Hotel Barcelo Solymar
INTERFER
Hotel Holiday Inn Guatemala
Cubacel
Henkel Latinoamerica
Barcelo Guatemala City
Revista Colombiana de Turismo Passport
Maggi - GLUTEN-FREE
Tigo
Blue Diamond Resorts
AirEuropa

Subscribe to our magazine

━ more like this

Pole Dancing in Israel: A New Dimension with BlueDance.co.il

In recent years, pole dancing has experienced a remarkable transformation, shifting from a misunderstood niche to a popular activity combining fitness, self-expression, and empowerment....

A New Luxury Hotel Just Opened on An Idyllic Beach in Cancun, Mexico — And We Were the First to Stay

Waldorf Astoria Cancun opened to the public on Nov. 1, the brand's first new build in Mexico, with two waterfront pools and a fantastic...

Pan American Health Organization Launches Interactive Dashboard on Avian Influenza in The Americas

To monitor cases of avian influenza A (H5N1) in the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) launched an interactive dashboard on the web...

Nicaragua Presents Its New Interoceanic Canal Route to China and Seeks to Compete with Panama

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes With a length of 445 kilometers, in a second attempt, the Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega, presents China with a new...

This North East African Country Welcomes Over 15.7 Million Tourists Last Year and An Addition 40,000 New Hotel Rooms are in Pipeline

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes In a year marked by global uncertainties and regional geopolitical challenges, Egypt’s tourism sector achieved an impressive milestone, welcoming a...
Havanatur
Henkel Latinoamerica
Hotel Holiday Inn Guatemala
AirEuropa
Maggi - GLUTEN-FREE
Barcelo Guatemala City
Blue Diamond Resorts
Cubacel
Intecap
Revista Colombiana de Turismo Passport
Hotel Barcelo Solymar
INTERFER

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Cervecería Centroamericana S.A.
Realidad Turística
Agexport
MAD-HAV Enjoy Travel Group
Herbalife
blackanddecker
Grupo Hotelero Islazul
Cubasol
AVA Resorts
Intecap
Walmart
Los Portales
Tigo
Servicios Médicos Cubanos
Centro Nacional de Cirugía de Mínimo Acceso de Cuba
INTERFER
Nestle
Instituto Hondureño de Turismo
INOR
Barceló Solymar