A key factor in the growing power of street gangs that control much of Haiti now, is the uncontrolled smuggling of weapons into that country. U.S. officials allege the guns are coming from South Florida, too.
The FBI has filed against three Haitian residents of South Florida for allegedly smuggling arms to Haiti鈥檚 400 Mawozo street gang. That鈥檚 the criminal group based outside Port-au-Prince that last month abducted 16 Americans and a Canadian, including young children, who belong to a U.S.-based missionary aid organization.
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The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., says the three South Florida Haitians 鈥� one of whom is a U.S. citizen 鈥� are themselves 400 Mawozo members. It alleges they purchased high-power rifles and pistols in Florida at the behest of the gang鈥檚 top leaders in Haiti.
In a WhatsApp message cited in the complaint, one suspect boasts:
鈥淲e are 400 Mawozo and鈥e are snakes. We slither to get where we are going. They would be shocked to see Mawozo invade Miami.鈥�
The South Florida suspects allegedly bought the guns, including a .50-caliber Barrett semi-automatic rifle, after tricking an employer into wiring some $30,000 into their bank accounts and falsifying purchasing documents. They then hid the guns in barrels under clothes and sundry household items before they were shipped in September and October.
As Haiti's government and economy collapse, violent street gangs are estimated to have taken control of large swaths of the country, including almost half of Port-au-Prince. They are responsible for a terrifying wave of ransom kidnapping, and their armed battles have forced almost 20,000 Haitians to flee their homes in the past year.
400 Mawozo is still holding the U.S. and Canadian missionaries, demanding million-dollar ransoms.
