Overview:
Jéir Pierre, chief prosecutor in Haiti’s Northwest Division, mentioned lacking proof — together with weapons, ammunition and medicines seized — have sophisticated the work of judges and worsened extended detention. In a latest letter, he urged the native police to enhance the dealing with of proof wanted in main legal circumstances.
PORT-DE-PAIX, Haiti — The chief prosecutor in Haiti’s Northwest is accusing departmental police of mishandling, and in some circumstances outright “tampering with,” crucial proof in legal circumstances, a follow he says is undermining prosecutions and reinforcing a cycle of impunity.
Authorities Commissioner Jéir Pierre mentioned lacking or improperly transferred proof — together with weapons, ammunition and medicines — has stalled investigations and weakened the judiciary’s potential to carry suspects accountable. Pierre mentioned he formally requested in an official letter that Fred Joseph, the departmental director of the Haitian Nationwide Police (PNH), present an evidence after a number of case recordsdata had been submitted with out important proof.
“The absence of this proof prevents the courts from doing their work,” Pierre mentioned in a latest interview with The Haitian Occasions. “It immediately contributes to impunity.”
Within the letter made public, the Port-de-Paix Prosecutor’s Workplace criticized police for failing to persistently submit key proof alongside case recordsdata. Magistrates, Pierre mentioned, are sometimes left to proceed with out the bodily proof wanted to substantiate costs. Such gaps complicate already fragile judicial proceedings, significantly in circumstances involving extended pretrial detention, the place suspects can spend years with out trial.
Pierre additionally accused police of overstepping their authority by dealing with or transferring proof earlier than judicial authorities are formally concerned.
“Two boats seized in Port-de-Paix had been bought and not using a court docket order,” he mentioned. “Weapons and ammunition had been transferred to Port-au-Prince with none judicial course of.”
He added that, aside from drug-related circumstances, proof ought to stay below judicial management earlier than being despatched to central authorities.
PNH officers within the Northwest have but to publicly reply to the prosecutor’s letter.
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Passersby stroll previous Port-de-Paix’s seat of presidency on Thursday, March 25, 2026. Photograph by Kervenson Martial/The Haitian Occasions -
Two attorneys from the Port-de-Paix prosecutor’s workplace greet one another in entrance of town’s courthouse on Thursday, March 25, 2026. Photograph by Kervenson Martial/The Haitian Occasions
Sample tied to broader dysfunction with asset seizures
The demand for accountability highlights long-standing coordination failures between Haiti’s police and judicial establishments — two our bodies meant to operate in tandem.
Authorized consultants and rights teams have repeatedly warned that weak case administration, corruption and political interference routinely compromise investigations. Proof mismanagement, particularly, has been cited as a key think about failed prosecutions.
The problem is very crucial in Haiti’s present safety disaster, the place trafficking networks and armed teams function with restricted worry of penalties. The Northwest area stays a key hall for maritime trafficking between the United States and the Caribbean. In 2025, authorities also recorded one of Haiti’s largest drug seizures there — more than one metric ton of cocaine.
Pierre pointed to past major seizures that now illustrate the problem.
In July 2022, authorities confiscated a large cache of weapons and ammunition in Port-de-Paix, including more than 120,000 rounds of ammunition, firearms, magazines and cash. The shipment, transported from Florida aboard a cargo vessel, was one of the region’s most significant arms seizures in recent years.
Four years later, Pierre said, much of that evidence has disappeared.
“The corpus delicti [material evidence] is no longer available,” he said, adding that the loss has effectively stalled the case.
Police mum on calls for better coordination
However, a source inside the institution, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized, told The Haitian Times that weapons and ammunition are routinely transferred to central authorities in Port-au-Prince, which may explain some of the missing evidence, though not the lack of judicial authorization.
Pierre said his new directives to police require that all serious criminal cases — especially any involving firearms, drugs and seized assets — be submitted with full documentation and physical evidence.
The standoff underscores deeper structural weaknesses in Haiti’s justice system, where under-resourced courts, poor coordination and corruption often collide, allowing cases to collapse and suspects to evade accountability.
Residents say both institutions must work together to avoid further breakdown.
“The decision made by the commissioner is commendable,” said Louinet Métayer, 49, an informed resident. “But justice cannot function without the police. They must resolve their differences.”