In the ever-growing digital expanse, a video recently catching widespread attention featured Joseph Wilson, the prominently known leader of a Haitian gang. In the footage, Wilson, unabashedly shirtless, is seen proudly displaying .50 caliber ammunition belts. With a mocking undertone, he claims to use these armor-piercing bullets for grooming his hair. This raises the rhetorical question, “Where do they procure their arms?” The answer isn’t straightforward. Guns are not manufactured in Haiti, and there’s a legal ban on shipping firearms there. Yet, the gangs terrorizing Port-au-Prince never seem to lack firearms nor ammunition.
Experts estimate around 20 armed groups operating within Port-au-Prince, armed with AR-15 and Galil assault rifles, shotguns, and Glock handguns, according to a report by the United Nations. The organization further estimates that between 270,000 and 500,000 firearms are circulating unlawfully within Haiti, with most of these weapons in the possession of gangs. This overwhelming firepower, coupled with the thinly equipped ranks of Haiti’s police force, has led to a staggering toll of over 5,600 homicide victims last year, marking a significant increase from the previous year.
Despite the United Nations imposing an arms embargo on Haiti three years ago, many weapons circulating on Haiti’s streets originate from the United States. These are purchased by so-called straw buyers and smuggled into the country, primarily by sea, though sometimes through the land border with the Dominican Republic, according to the United Nations.
In response to the escalating security concerns, Haiti’s government has restricted imports along its land border with the Dominican Republic, allowing only goods produced there. This policy aims to force any products not originally from the Dominican Republic to enter through Haiti’s gang-infested seaports, further complicating the situation.
The central question remains: Are Haiti and other nations, including the United States, adequately addressing the influx of weapons? Bill O’Neill, the U.N.’s independent human rights expert for Haiti, posits that stopping the flow of guns and ammunition would eventually diminish the gangs’ capabilities. This approach is deemed a safer and quicker method to dismantle them.
Originating from where? Florida emerges as the primary source. South Florida, encompassing the ports of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, stands as the point of origin for 90 percent of Caribbean-bound illicit firearms reported between 2016 and 2023, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Gangs often acquire guns and ammunition by targeting police stations or bribing local authorities. However, the most common method is through smuggling in shipping containers and aboard freighters leaving South Florida, hidden among a conglomerate of bicycles, cars, electrical goods, clothing, and food.
U.N. officials and private security experts have noted a shift in traffickers’ tactics, avoiding increased inspections on the Miami River, a city waterway notorious for contraband trade, by focusing on new routes, including Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, a large cruise ship and cargo facility.
Lead in weapon seizures has ensued, with Dominican officials confiscating large shipments of firearms destined for Haiti. Notable examples include the seizure of nearly two dozen firearms, including a Barrett .50 caliber semiautomatic rifle and 15 AK-47-style assault rifles, as well as 36,000 rounds on the Sara Express, a frequent Miami-Dominican Republic route.
Investigations have led to the apprehension of individuals, including those from Miami companies involved in shipping these weapons. Authorities in the Dominican Republic have also seized shipments potentially bound for Haiti, including firearms with labels indicating Vermont and Georgia origins. Further, an investigation uncovered the smuggling of nearly one million rounds of ammunition to Haiti by Dominican police officers.
Law enforcement’s success remains a topic of inquiry. In response to a letter from several members of Congress addressing weapon smuggling to Haiti, the U.S. Commerce Department acknowledged a lack of funding hindering its efforts, despite nine Haiti-related investigations resulting in convictions under the Biden administration.
Federal law enforcement agencies have pursued several weapons cases related to Haiti. Notably, a St. Cloud, Florida, police officer pleaded guilty to purchasing and reselling firearms as part of a scheme sending weapons to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Haiti. Additionally, a Guatemalan undocumented migrant was charged with firearms trafficking, recruiting straw purchasers to buy weapons transported to the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Haiti’s capabilities to combat smuggled firearms are limited, with few resources such as scanners and border guards. The U.S.’s ability to scan exported goods at domestic ports is also limited, with cargo inspections performed only rarely. The mix of cargo, ranging from second-hand clothing to cars, facilitates the concealment of contraband, as illustrated by a case involving disassembled guns hidden among tennis rackets, fruit juice, rice, and clothing aboard a Miami River freighter.
Dominican Republic’s efforts to curb trafficking, supported by the U.S., include a specialized unit of local Customs agents and additional X-ray scanners at main ports. While Dominican officials track suspicious shipments, questioning the country’s role as an illicit gun source to Haiti remains. Critics argue that insufficient regulation of firearms’ sale to straw buyers in the U.S., a practice feeding weapons into criminal hands in Mexico and Latin America, is a prime issue.
Addressing this requires concerted action to stop the sale of weapons to straw buyers and traffickers, a point emphasized by Jonathan Lowy, founder of Global Action on Gun Violence. Stopping the flow of guns and ammunition to traffickers, where they can be easily concealed in everyday exports, is critical to addressing the root of the problem.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/us/haiti-gangs-guns-smuggling.html
