According to a criminal research company located in Geneva, Haitian gangs are becoming more monetarily independent, relying on money extracted from locals, companies, and the families of abduction victims to buy weapons and troops.
“Gangs have undergone a radical evolution, going from rather unstructured actors dependent on resources provided by public or private patronage to violent entrepreneurs,” stated the study, which the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime recently released.
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An anonymous interview with politicians, law enforcement, humanitarian assistance workers, businesspeople, and citizens of the Caribbean Island was included in the study. The report stated, “These entities are nowadays far more economically autonomous and territorially powerful, making them less controllable.”
It said that this presents several obstacles to a much anticipated multinational force supported by the United Nations, which Haiti’s unelected government had asked for in October 2022 to help its underfunded police and ease the humanitarian situation.
The UN approved this force in the latter part of last year, but details on its size and deployment schedule are still pending.
The study claims that companies are being forced to provide gangs up to $20,000 a week in exchange for percentages of containers that come off ships and, occasionally, assistance in arranging the delivery of weapons in place of cash payments.
According to the report, gang checkpoints, which are common on the highways leading into the city and dividing the relocating areas of opposing gangs, have become extremely bureaucratized and earn up to $8,000 a day. Some even issue weekly cards to expedite the processing of individuals.
The survey also stated that considering a rising tendency of kidnapping commuters by the busload, it is reasonable to assume that the so-called abduction “industry” makes around $25 million annually.
It also stated that there were allegations of victims being dumped on the streets with missing organs and gang clinics being used for organ extraction, pointing to potential organ trafficking, in the severely damaged Cite Soleil and Canaan districts of the city.
The assessment advised the U.N.-backed force to work with sanctions committees, prioritize safeguarding the nation’s land and maritime borders to stop the stockpiling of assault weapons, and take action to stop intelligence leaks and arms theft.
Since the gang leaders can recover money through kidnapping ransoms and have minimal need to travel or retain money abroad, the current U.N. sanctions on five of their leaders have, according to the study, had “little” evidence of impact.
