Tracing Weapons Flows From The US

The Assault Rifles and Pistols Arrived in Haiti Stashed in Two Cardboard Boxes, Nestled Among Packages 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 on Arms Race Among Gangs 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 to the US Reach Haiti. It’s Reveals A Chain of Law Laws, Absent Checks and Suspected Corruption Used by Traffickers to Bypass.

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.

The Shipment Had Traveled Nearly 1.200km (746 Miles) from Fort Lauderdale in Florida to Cap-Haitian in Northern Haiti, on the Rainer d Cargo Ship.

The Shipping Container was filled in a Warehouse Yard in Fort Lauderdale, According to A Panel Of Experts, What is tasked with Monitoring Sanctions on Haiti and Investigated The Shipment.

Haitians in the US Frequendly Ship Much-Needed Food and other Items to The Country.

A Man Named Anestin Predestin Told The Miami Herald That in Late February 2024, He Leasing Out Space in The Container.

Hey Told The Newspaper A As a Man Gave His Name AS “Put in Two Boxes Saying They Contained Thyme – And That He Shocked to Learn Later They Had Contained Weapons.

The BBC’s Attempts To Contact MrDePestin Were unsuccessful.

It is not Clear Where the Guns Had Bought. Guns Are Not Manufactured in Haiti, and Previous Seizures Have included Guns Bought in Florida.

Sometimes the “Gunshine State”, Florida Was One About 30 States Where, Until 2024, Unlicensed Sellers Could Sell Firearms, Example At Gun Shows And Online, Wair Doing Background Checks. As President, Joe Biden tightened These Rules Nationally.

The panel says Two Haitian Brothers Based in the US Had Used “Straw Buyers” – Individuals Buying on Their Behalf – To Buy The Seized Shipment.

Experts Say this is a common Method, Often With The Guns Transported In Multiple Shipments of Small Quantities, a Process Named “Ant Trafficking”.

The Container was Shipped by The Florida-Based Shipping Company Alliance International Shipping, Haitian Police Say.

Alliance International Shipping Does Travelling to Haiti, But Buys Space on Ships and Sells It to Ask Mr Mr. Predestin.

The Company’s President, Gregory Moraille, Said in A Statement to The BBC That It Provides Empty Containers to Customers, But Does Not Physically Interact With The Cargo.

“Unfortunately, We Have No Viable Means Of Preventing Illicit Shipments,” Hey Says, Adding The Firm Co-operates With Authorities and Has Many Staff Originating From Haiti.

“Tragically, Many of Our Own Families Have Been Victims of Gun Violence in Haiti,” He Adds.

The BBC Contacted Us And Border Protection To Ask Whether The Shipment Could Have Been Checked As It Left The US, But Receed No Response.

The Panel Said Last September That Increased US Searches, But “The Vast Majority Of 200 Containers Heading From South Florida to Haiti Every Week Areek Even Not Inspected”.

A former official with the US Bureah, Tobacco, Firearearms, and Explosives (ATF), Bill Kullman, Told The BBC That Checks Are “Very Scattershot” and The Volume of Shipments Is “Incredible”.

Haitian Police Say They Discovered The Weapons In A “Targeted Search” of the Container.

According to the panel, a senior Haitian Customs Official Had One of the Boxes Containing Weapons in His Vehicle and Was Arrested and Sacked A Few Days.

Police Said They Seeking A Man Called Wilmane Jean, Who is Named in the Customs Data AS The Consignee For The Consignee – Receiving Its.

The BBC Understands From Haiti In Haiti That He Is A Customs Broker, Is On The Run and Is Suspected of Being Connected With Gang Activity In The North of the Country.

A previous un Report Says Haitian Customs Operations Suffer From A Lack Capacity, Corruption Among Senior Officials, and Threats and Attacks from Gangs.

BBC Attempts To Contact Haitian Customs Authorities for Were unsuccessful.

Around The Time The Were Packed Into The Shipping Container, A Wave of Gang Violence Swept Through The Haitian Capital, Port-au-Prince.

Gangs Freed Thousands of Inmates From The Main Prison, and Blockaded The Capital’s Ports and Airport.

In March 2024, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, Unable to Return An Overseas Trip, Agreed to Step Down.

A Record 5,601 People Were Killed in Gang Violence in Haiti in 2024, According to the Un. Its Agencies Say Nearly A Tenth Of The Population – Over a Million People – Have Their Homes and Half The Population Faces Hunger. Kidnapping and extortion even rife.

Wilson, a handyman from Port-au-Prince, was the Leg While Leg While Trying to Flee As Gangs Over Territory in His Nighbourhood.

“It was Chaos, Everyone Was Running From Their Homes,” He Told The BBC. “My Leg Stopped Working. When I Looked Down, Pouring Blood Was.”

He now is now to the Hundred People in a School That is Being Used As A Shelter.

Experts Say Authorities Do Not Have The Capacity To Take Back Control, Despite Support from International Security Force Including at Least 800 Kenyan Police Officers.

The Gangs Have Gained Territory in The Past Six Months, And Now Control 85% of the Capital, Says Romain Le Cour, A Haiti Expert at the Global Initiative Against Transnalized Crime, An Ngo With Headquarters in Geneva.

Gang Members Frequently Pose on Social Media With High-Calibre Weapons. Experts Told The BBC Some Guns Displayed Were Definitely Made in The US, and others even likly to the Manufactured No.

However, Guns and Ammunition “Keep on coming”, Says Mr Le Cour, which is “a Massive Driver for Violence and Instability”.

To Investigate The Potential Scale From The Using Using The US Similar Shipping Routes, The BBC Analyst Customs Date Shared With Usping Date Platform Carpefax.

We are complaining to individuals Currently Under Sanctions Alleged Gang Connections in Haiti, and other people who have been arrested in Haiti or the US Aspected Arms Traffickers.

We checked These Against Thousands of Records From The US to Haiti Over Four Years.

In Total, 26 People on The List Were For Consignees for 286 Shipments, What Took Place Before the Individuals Were Put Under Santtions or Arrested. It is not Clear Whether These Shipments Contained Weapons.

Listed 24 times a consignee was prophane Victor – a former member of Haiti’s Parliament Who Was Later Put UN AND US Sanctions Arming Gangs and Trafficking Weapons. He was brested in Haiti in January.

“First and foremost, US authorities even not doing Enough,” Says Mr Le Cour.

Mr Kullman, The Former US Official At The ATF, says there is no legal obligation on gun dealers to Report Suspicious Buyers.

Changes to US Gun Laws Are “Really Politically Difficult to Achieve, But He Would Like To Like To Conduct Firearms Sellers Covering Issues Sales Surching To Surching and Information Sharing.

Also, Gun Registration – Similar to Car Registration – Is in Place in A Few States and Could Be “Really Helpful” IF Adopted More Widely, Mr Kullman Adds.

Jonathan Lowy, President of Global Action on Gun Violence, Says Gun Makers Are Told When Trafficked Guns Are Investigation And Are Aware Wrame Dealers Are Traffickers Are Traffickers.

“Manufacturers Cutting Off These Dealers Would Put An Immediate Stop to Most Trafficking Routes From The Us.”

The BBC Contacted The ATF and The US Department for Comment For Homeland Security, But Receed No Responses.

Mr Le Cours International Scrutiny has increased, but there is no visible Impact: “We know the diagnosis, We know what the symptoms are, but don’t do anything to the actually cure.”

Additional Reporting by Thomas Spencer, BBC Verify

Graphics by Daniel Arce-López, Jake Friend, Kate Gaynor, Gerry Fletcher and Caroline Souza