15 days after the dismantling of a criminal network of law enforcement agents National Police that stole ammunition from the institution’s arsenals and then sold them to gangs in Haiti, neither the National District Prosecutor’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office, nor the Ministry of the Interior and Police have revealed the number of those involved, the names, the amount of what was stolen and at what stage of the process the investigation is.
On October 31, in a brief note, the Interior and Police indicated that in an investigation, carried out by the State intelligence agencies and with the support of the Director General of the Police, Major General Ramón Antonio Guzmán Peralta, it was revealed that within Those involved in these illicit activities are high-ranking senior officers and junior officers.
According to the investigation released by the network of corrupt officials who had been operating in the National Police, took advantage of his position and internal knowledge to steal ammunition from the institution’s arsenals, which were sold in Haiti to members of criminal gangs operating in Port-au-Prince.
The Haitian authorities had already alerted their Dominican colleagues about illegal trafficking of ammunition into the country, in which Dominican Police officers were supposedly involved, transporting them to the border, where intermediaries haitians they received them.
The entity’s information has never revealed the names, the number of those involved, or the volume of what was stolen, although it indicates that as a result of this case, the Ministry of the Interior and Police will be implementing a joint supervision mechanism with the Police. National to guarantee efficient and safe management of the inventory of equipment and supplies.
You may be interested in reading: Prosecutor’s Office continues investigation into the theft of ammunition from the Police
In the streets, the questions did not find answers, but they did create doubts and uncertainties. Is it true what has been known for a long time but there was no proof? And the ammunition and weapons of the gang members and drug dealers of the country do police officers sell them?
dark police
A senior retired National Police officer who refused to give his name for this interview emphatically explained the following to me: “The police have always sold not only part of the ammunition they have in warehouses, but also part of the bullets assigned to them.”
In addition, the senior officer said that many agents recover stolen weapons that are never delivered to the institution, nor are they part of the investigations and these are rented or sold to criminals. But senior officers also know that there are police officers from special teams like Dicrim who have weapons that are intended to be used on individuals in complex cases and alleged exchanges of gunfire.
“In the PN there are mafias that control part of the promotions, distribution of officers to direct the provinces and detachments, there is even a way to get a better firearm or vehicle. There are mafias there that control everything,” said the informant.
Arms trafficking
In the last days of October last year (2023) the UN revealed in a document that arms trafficking in Haiti has the United States (US) and the Dominican Republic as main suppliers.
According to the document, the United States is the main supplier of firearms of all types to Haiti, followed by the Dominican Republic, which serves as a transit point and also a direct seller to dangerous gangs, such as 400 Mawozo.
The report specifies that gang members easily obtain firearms and ammunition on the illicit Haitian market or in the Dominican Republic. And yet, the largest gangs have tried to buy specific weapons from the United States, such as high-powered rifles and light machine gunsthrough direct channels.
Ammunition
In November 2022, on the border, in El Carrizal, the wife of the governor of the Belladere commune of Haiti, Yvanosky Joachin, was detained with a shipment of ammunition of various calibers, when she was heading to her country. The woman was traveling accompanied by another woman and a girl of about two years old. It’s a white SUV, with a Haitian FF license plate. 01302.
A completely credible source had stated at that time that this vehicle traveled very frequently from Comendador, in Elías Piña, to Haiti, and that it was supposedly a vehicle that entered through the border without being seized by the authorities, and that that day a soldier who has been on the job for three days reviewed the jeep and found inside a large amount of ammunition destined for Haiti.
On December 31, 2023, Haitian police detained three Haitian nationals at the border who tried to bring 10,000 bullets into Haiti from the Dominican Republic. The ammunition was found in a truck that was transporting chickens to Haiti.
Upon arriving at the border community Anse-á-Pitre, near the Pedernales province, Haitian police officers checked the transport and there they found some boxes under the chickens. They took the vehicle to the area police station for inspection.
Definition
Ammunition is the set of supplies needed to fire firearms. This ranges from bullets rifle and pistol even the pellets of a cartridge.
It can also be said that ammunition is any material used in the propulsion of a projectile from a weapon. Although the term is commonly used to refer to bullets, it also includes cartridges, grenades, and other military supplies. Each ammunition is designed specifically for a type of weapon, making them an essential element of the weapons system.
