On January 6 the US Justice Department announced an indictment charging one US citizen and two Haitian citizens with conspiracy to smuggle goods and unlawfully ship firearms from the United States to Haiti.
According to the indictment, in February 2025, officials in the Dominican Republic seized 18 rifles, 5 handguns, firearms magazines, over 36,000 rounds of ammunition, and a silencer from inside a container that had been shipped from Miami, Florida. The shipping container was destined for Haiti. The firearms and ammunition were not listed on the shipping manifest, which instead listed household goods. The defendants were the purchasers of at least 20 of the 23 firearms seized from the shipping container and have a history of purchasing multiple firearms in Florida, including military-grade weapons.
We applaud the US government for taking action to stop the illegal trafficking of weapons from the United States to Haiti. These arrests are welcome news, although there is much more to do. There are an estimated 500,000 illegal weapons circulating in Haiti, most from the United States, and most shipped out of containers in Miami that contain household items. We urge the administration to scan the cargo before it leaves Miami, and to prohibit so-called straw purchases that enable people to purchase multiples of weapons and ammunition for resale and trafficking.
Comments
John Lindsay-Poland (not verified)
Thanks for flagging this indictment. It would be helpful to find out from which dealer or dealers in Florida the traffickers obtained the weapons. That's a lot of ammo, and Barrett rifles are, let's say, "special." Gun dealers should restrict sales, and DOJ should alert the public to who is selling these trafficked weapons.
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