More than two dozen rifle and pistol charges, 23 guns, and 36,000 rounds of ammunition were recently intercepted by Dominican Republic authorities from a Miami cargo bound for Haiti.
Additionally, a submachine gun and a.50-caliber rifle charger were seized by agents, the Dominican customs office said in a statement.
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The inquiry is still underway, according to Dominican officials, who are collaborating with the US Department of Homeland Security and other organizations. They pointed out that 37 firearms were recently confiscated by Dominican officials at the same port in the city of Santo Domingo.
The International Organization for Migration reports that 25,000 people have been forced to escape the city, Port-au-Prince, in the last two weeks due to gang violence in neighboring Haiti, which coincides with the seizures.
According to the UN, there were over 5,600 confirmed deaths in Haiti last year, and gang violence has left over a million people homeless in recent years.
Last year, a record number of murders in the Caribbean were attributed to illegal guns. US sources think that 90 percent of the firearms used in the area were smuggled in from the US.
Following the seizure of 66 rifles and over 4,500 rounds of ammunition at a port in the capital, Kingston, last month, Jamaican police said on March 4, 2025, that they had charged a truck driver from Columbus, Georgia with trafficking banned weapons. The suspect was captured in Jamaica, where he holds dual citizenship with the United States.
