Haiti - Traffic : The majority of weapons and ammunition are purchased largely in the USA
The "Fragility, Resilience, Development and Investment" (FREDI) report recently published by the Institute of Higher Education for Diplomatic and Consular Training (INESDYC) of the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mirex), covering the period 2021 to 2023, reveals that the weapons and ammunition come largely from the United States and fuel the traffic to Haiti where they are resold illegally in this country and in a small proportion in the Dominican Republic.
He specifies that most of the weapons are purchased by Haitian gang members through intermediaries who are American-Haitian residents or other nationalities, who are responsible for importing them from the USA and other countries into Haiti. The report indicates that arms and ammunition generally enter Haiti by land and sea (unmonitored ports and coasts), and that narcotics do so through ports, airports and poorly or unmonitored maritime border points.
The report specifies that arms trafficking from Haiti to the Dominican Republic has become almost non-existent in the border provinces since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021 due to the proliferation of gangs and their needs which monopolizes the market.
This report indicates that in 2022, the Specialized Land Border Security Corps (CESFront) seized a total of 22,160 munitions of various calibers destined for Haiti.
Likewise, the report refers to a document published by the UN "Criminal markets in Haiti" (2023) (PDF in English hhttps://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/toc/Haiti_assessment_UNODC.pdf ) which indicates that Haitian customs officers periodically intercept contraband products at the borders, including firearms hidden in food products such as beans, flour and rice.
