Haiti gun trafficking: Tracing weapons flows from the US

The journey of two boxes of weapons reveals a chain of lax laws, absent checks and suspected corruption.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingAudioPodcastsRadioAudio FAQsVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveWeatherNewslettersSmugglers' paradise: How US guns flow to gang-ravaged Haiti14 hours agoShareSaveJacqui Wakefield, Christopher Giles and Joshua CheethamGlobal Disinformation Unit, BBC World ServiceShareSaveBBCThe assault rifles and pistols arrived in Haiti stashed in two cardboard boxes, nestled among packages of food and clothes, on a cargo ship stacked with rust-red shipping containers.

They had come from the US, which one expert describes as a "supermarket" feeding an arms race among gangs that have brought chaos to the Caribbean island nation.

An investigation by the BBC World Service and BBC Verify traced the two boxes' journey, showing how weapons from the US reach Haiti. It reveals a chain of lax laws, absent checks and suspected corruption used by traffickers to bypass a UN embargo.

Haitian police announced in April 2024 that they had seized the two boxes. They contained 12 assault rifles, 14 pistols and 999 ammunition cartridges.

A police photo clearly shows weapons from two different US-based manufacturers.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly15pp707go

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