They control the country's infrastructure, from police stations to ports. They expelled hundreds of thousands of people from the capital. And they are suspected of having ties to the assassination of the Haitian president in 2021.
Western diplomats and officials say the influence and capabilities of many Haitian gangs are evolving, with a Kenyan-led multinational police force soon to be deployed to Haiti and a fragile interim force trying to pave the way for elections. It says it is becoming a growing threat to the council.
With 2,500 police officers due to arrive in the coming days, they will face a better-equipped, better-funded, better-trained and more unified gang unit than any other mission to the Caribbean before, security experts say.
Some gangs, once heavily reliant on Haiti's political and business elite for funding, have found an independent economic lifeline since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and the subsequent collapse of the state.
“The gangs made their money through kidnappings, extortion, and payouts from politicians on the campaign trail and the business elite among them,” said William O'Neill, a UN-appointed human rights expert on Haiti.
“But the gangs are now much more independent and don't need the financial support of the old guard,” he added. “They've created a Frankenstein that no one can control.”
The support for the gangs is stronger than the weapons gangs have had in the past, according to two Justice Department officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss classified intelligence assessments. Some gangs have acquired automatic rifles since February, likely a mix of weapons stolen from local militaries and modified semi-automatic rifles, the officials said.
Gangs have also changed their public stance, posting videos on social media of themselves acting more like militias with national ambitions and less concerned with regular turf wars. .
Some Haitian gangs began working together last September, days after the Dominican Republic closed its land border with Haiti, announcing an alliance known as Living Together.
The idea was to unite gangs to overcome the obstacles the border closures pose to drug smuggling operations, said two Western diplomats in Haiti who were not authorized to speak publicly.
But the alliance collapsed about a week after the announcement, diplomats said, after about 2,000 tonnes of cocaine was stolen from Haitian gang leader Johnson Andre, known as Izzo.
Diplomats say Izzo's Five Segon gang (known in Creole as “Five Seconds'') is believed to be the country's largest cocaine trafficker, sending much of its product directly to Europe.
In late February, the Vivre Ensemble was revived. The gangs have publicly vowed to overthrow the country's prime minister and resist Kenya-led security forces if they are called in, calling them “invaders.”
A few days later, the Alliance stormed two prisons and freed approximately 4,600 prisoners, many of whom joined their ranks. The chaos forced Haiti's Prime Minister, who was out of the country, to resign.
Haitian officials said the fugitives included Dimitri Erard, the head of the security forces guarding Moïse's presidential palace before his assassination. As mercenaries attacked Moïse's home, Erard ordered his troops to stand by. He was in prison awaiting trial on charges related to the assassination when he was released during the jailbreak.
Mr. Erard currently organizes and advises the Izzo gang, and may provide links to larger criminal organizations in the region, including drug cartels, according to a senior regional intelligence official and two Western diplomats. It is said that there is a sex.
Erard could not be reached for comment.
Haitian gangs appear to be using weapons that are also used by the Gulf Clan, a Colombian cartel that operates along Colombia's Caribbean coast and uses neighboring countries to traffic cocaine. Colombian President Gustavo Petro said last month that thousands of military weapons may have been stolen, sold to cartels and other armed groups, and ended up in Haiti.
Another powerful gang leader, Vitelhomme Innocent, has also been implicated by authorities in Moïse's murder. He borrowed one of the cars used to kill Moise, according to a Haitian police report.
Mr. Erard was also the main suspect in the largest case ever investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration in Haiti. In 2015, the MV Manzanares cargo ship entered Port-au-Prince with more than 1,000 kilograms of cocaine and heroin hidden inside sugar bags.
At the time, Michel Martelly was Haiti's president and Mr. Erard was a senior member of the presidential security forces. Witnesses saw Erard at the port ordering members of the presidential guard to transport drugs from the ship to a police vehicle.
Most of the drugs in the case disappeared, and witnesses were intimidated by Haitian government officials, including police officer Jimmy Cherisier, according to Keith McNichols, a former DEA official who worked on the case.
Mr. Cherizier, also known as Barbecue, is currently one of the most powerful gang leaders in Haiti and a key member of the Vivre Ensemble coalition.
“Gangs are increasingly being linked to drug trafficking,” said the U.N.'s O'Neill, “and given that former police officers like Erard were involved in the drug trade when Martelly came to power, it is not surprising that gangs are now trying to court those former security officials.”
More recently, officials familiar with the negotiations to appoint a new Haiti prime minister said Martelly has been lobbying Caribbean leaders and political allies to try to influence the composition of the transitional government.
Officials say his allies in the transitional council have proposed that the gang be granted immunity, perhaps as part of broader immunity for former government officials who could face corruption charges. It is said that they are secretly surfacing.
In a statement to the New York Times, Martelly called the accusations politically motivated and said he “categorically denies baseless allegations of active interference in the transition council.” “I have never had any association with gangs and I have never mentioned pardoning anyone.”
Martelly's government, which served as president from 2011 to 2016, was accused of rampant corruption, including the misappropriation of approximately $2 billion in aid money from Venezuela. In 2022, Canada sanctioned him and other Haitian politicians for protecting and empowering local gangs “including money laundering and other corrupt activities.”
“If the Haitian people are not consulted, the idea of amnesty could add fuel to the fire,'' said Romain Le Cour, a Haitian security analyst with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. “Given the inability of politicians to unite in this moment of crisis.” Given that there is a crisis and gangs are committing serious human rights violations. ”
Report contributor: Christian Triebert, Andre Poeltl, John Ismay, Adam Entos, Julian E. Burns and David C. Adams.