Overview:
A 94-page UN report on Haiti paperwork in depth diversion of ammunition and army tools from Dominican police stockpiles in 2024 and proof that ammunition linked to the Dominican Republic reached armed gangs in Haiti. The UN Panel of Specialists on Haiti stated Dominican-marked rounds have been discovered amongst ammunition seized from gangs together with 400 Mawozo, whereas separate findings element the diversion of ammunition from Haitian police shares.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — The UN Panel of Specialists on Haiti stories that 908,001 rounds of ammunition have been diverted from Dominican Republic police stockpiles in 2024, and that a lot of this ammunition was allegedly offered in border areas and later traced to gangs in Haiti, together with 400 Mawozo and teams working in Bel-Air.
In its Sept. 8 report, the panel stated that the invention adopted an investigation that started after authorities seized a number of crates containing 5,000 rounds of 5.56 × 45 mm ammunition in Mirebalais in 2024. Dominican authorities then inventoried their police stockpiles and found that 908,001 rounds of ammunition had been diverted.
In a 94-page report, the U.N. Panel of Specialists on Haiti stated it couldn’t decide precisely how a lot of the diverted ammunition reached Haiti. Safety authorities within the neighboring DR indicated to investigators that the majority of those provides was possible transported throughout the border, on condition that native armed teams closely depend on these particular calibers.
“It’s troublesome to precisely estimate how a lot of the fabric reached Haiti,” the UN consultants stated. “Nonetheless, some Dominican safety consultants defined that, given the comparatively restricted marketplace for 5.56 × 45 mm and seven.62 × 39 mm ammunition within the [DR], many of the materials was possible transported to Haiti, the place these two calibers are among the many major sorts utilized by gangs.”
The findings add to proof that ammunition is reaching Haitian armed teams via a number of routes, together with diversion from Dominican Republic safety drive stockpiles.
Investigation hyperlinks ammunition seized from Haitian gangs to Dominican army provides
Throughout inspections in February 2026, the Panel of Specialists examined ammunition seized from gangs in Haiti and located a number of forms of rounds bearing the marking “ERD,” which stands for Dominican Republic Forces.
Dominican and Colombian authorities instructed the consultants that the ammunition had been bought in 2022 underneath two contracts signed with the Dominican Armed Forces and the Dominican Ministry of Protection, respectively.
“The Dominican Armed Forces comply with the nice apply of marking their ammunition, which permits for higher inventory administration and helps forestall, detect and examine diversion,” the UN consultants on Haiti stated.
Additional supporting proof of Dominican army ammunition reaching gangs in Haiti, the consultants cited a December 2025 case during which a second lieutenant within the Dominican Armed Forces was arrested in San Juan de la Maguana with a Haitian nationwide whereas transporting 1,516 rounds of ammunition by bike.
The consultants additionally stated they analyzed a video exhibiting the ‘400 Mawozo’ gang chief Wilson “Lanmo San Jou” Joseph displaying distinctive surplus .50-caliber ammunition. Rounds recovered from the gang in 2026 have been recognized as having been manufactured within the Dominican Republic within the Nineteen Fifties.
The Dominican authorities instructed the consultants that the excess ammunition was being destroyed and that no diversion had been detected; nevertheless, the consultants panel discovered proof that a few of it ended up within the fingers of gangs.
The consultants stated the precise chain of custody of the excess ammunition stays unclear, noting that portions of the ammunition, which had beforehand been imported for the U.S. civilian market, have been nonetheless accessible for buy on collectors’ web sites.
“Not less than 15 of the 32 [.50-caliber] rounds documented by the Panel of Specialists have been manufactured within the Dominican Republic,” the report stated.
Haitian police ammunition was additionally offered to gangs
The report additionally discovered that ammunition from the Haitian Nationwide Police (PNH) stockpiles had been diverted and offered to gang teams affiliated with the Viv Ansanm coalition,
Throughout a list they carried out of 336 rounds of seven.62 x 51 mm ammunition seized by the police establishment from gangs in Bel Air in 2026, 70% got here from diverted PNH stockpiles.
“The police have arrested a number of corrupt officers, a few of whom have been concerned in trafficking arms and ammunition on behalf of Chalè, the chief of the Tokyo gang,” the UN consultants stated. “Some cops retrieve unused ammunition and resell it to gangs and self-defense teams.”
The report additionally documented 5.56 x 45 mm ammunition matching rounds imported by the Haitian Armed Forces (FAD’H) within the possession of gangs and a self-defense group. The Ministry of Protection instructed the panel in Might 2026 that among the ammunition imported by FAD’H had been transferred to the police.
The consultants concluded that the dearth of a centralized system for managing seized weapons and ammunition, a lot of which aren’t correctly recorded, makes it troublesome to trace the fabric and creates alternatives for some to be diverted by corrupt officers.
Neither Dominican authorities, the Haitian Nationwide Police, nor the Haitian military has publicly responded because the report was launched on October 6.
A worthwhile arms commerce retains weapons flowing to Haiti’s gangs
The UN panel stated trafficking of arms and ammunition stays extremely worthwhile within the nation, the place demand from armed gangs may be very excessive, significantly in Port-au-Prince.
In accordance with the report, costs on the illicit market embody:
- Fundamental 9×19 mm handguns: between $2,000 and $4,000
- 5.56×45 mm semi-automatic rifles: between $5,000 and $8,000
- A 5.56×45 mm spherical: about $3 per spherical
The report additionally cited a July 2026 investigation from Jamaican authorities about drug-for-arms exchanges involving legal teams working in Jamaica and Haitian actors. Jamaican authorities instructed the UN Panel of Specialists they seized 51 weapons belonging to the PNH in Jamaica.
These revelations come as residents all through Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas face extreme gang assaults, with a number of teams overtly displaying weapons and ammunition whereas persevering with to hold out lethal assaults towards the inhabitants. The newest UN figures report that greater than 5,700 individuals have been killed in Haiti in 2026, together with greater than 164 deaths within the two most up-to-date massacres in Kenscoff, amongst them youngsters.
Regardless of quite a few police operations towards gangs, together with in Kenscoff, Gressier, Tabarre and provincial cities corresponding to Mirebalais, the state of affairs stays regarding, with gangs controlling giant swaths of territory, together with greater than 85% of the capital, in keeping with the UN.