Feds in South Florida seek Haitian community’s help to tackle arms trafficking to Haiti

Federal agents investigating the illegal flow of weapons, drugs and contraband between the United States and Haiti are turning to South Florida’s Haitian community for help in cracking down on the gang violence that is fueling instability in the volatile Caribbean country.

Agents from Homeland Security Investigations, the criminal investigations arm of the Department of Homeland Security, met with prominent Haitian-American leaders from the Miami metro area at the agency’s office on Friday.

“What are we missing? How do we do more outreach? How do we get better connectivity with the Haitian community here?” Anthony Salisbury, the Special Agent in Charge for HSI Miami, asked a roomful of invitees. “We’re not going to arrest our way out of the problem. We have to come together as a community.”

The meeting, which Salisbury said was an entry into further dialogue with Haitians living in South Florida, comes at a time Haiti is embroiled in a crisis that threatens to topple its government and plunge the country deeper into a humanitarian crisis.

Since Feb. 29 armed gangs have attacked key institutions, freeing thousands of inmates out of two prisons and taken over police stations and neighborhoods across Port-au-Prince. Despite achieving one of their main demands, the ouster of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, armed groups have continued their attacks.

READ MORE: Haiti presidential council reverses decision on a prime minister, but crisis continues

During the most recent wave of violence, which has displaced tens of thousands of people from their homes, the role of criminal networks in the U.S. that supply firearms and ammunition to gangs in Haiti has grabbed the spotlight among both members of the Haitian community and U.S. officials.

South Florida’s ports have emerged as key transit point for the illegal flow of arms, with the U.S. being the main source of guns and ammunition going into Haiti, according to a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime .

On Friday, Salisbury described the region as the “chokepoint” of illicit firearms smuggling to Haiti as he acknowledged the deep ties between the country and South Florida, home to the largest Haitian community in the United States.

“If someone stubs their toe in Haiti, we feel it in Miami,” he said.

During the discussion, Salisbury highlighted some of his agency’s seizures, including cocaine, marijuana and firearms stuffed in the roofs of cars, cereal boxes and under boats. Agents also presented some of the challenges that monitoring goods along the Miami River presents, because ships often carry large volumes of individually packed cargo. HSI said it detected an increased flow of illegal arms and ammo to Haiti in August 2022, when it announced a crackdown on the black market arms trade in South Florida.

Salisbury told the audience that HSI agents were effective at identifying who was and wasn’t involved in criminal activity and that the ultimate target was dismantling networks and prosecuting the masterminds. But some in the audience, like Rev. Luke Harrigan of Grace Haitian Baptist Church, raised concerns that it is the “little guys” who unknowingly end up with illicit contraband on their boats who are taking the fall for criminal networks’ leaders.

Still, having the community’s help, Salisbury emphasized, is key to helping agents increase seizures and stop the flow of arms. The appeal was welcomed by some of the invitees, like North Miami Police Chief Cherise Gause. The first Haitian-American woman to supervise the city’s force, Gause said she hoped for more opportunities to share information. Meanwhile, Miami Dade College Executive Vice President and Provost Malou Harrison encouraged more opportunities for universities and students to learn about the agency’s work.

Though the focus was mainly about the illegal flow of arms, Salisbury took advantage of the gathering to highlight other law enforcement work his agents are engaged in.

While HSI does not handle civil immigration matters, detention, or enforcement — a point the agency emphasizes because immigrant victims and witnesses can fear coming forward with tips because of their immigration status — it does investigate human trafficking and smuggling.

Among the cases highlighted: that of Daniel Pye, a former Christian missionary who ran an orphanage in the port city of Jacmel who was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for child sex tourism. The feds are also seeking cooperation on the developing case of Michael Karl Geilenfeld, the 71-year-old former operator of St. Joseph’s Home for Boys in Port-au-Prince, who has been accused by former residents of the home of sexually abusing them. Last month, Geilenfeld pleaded not guilty in a U.S. court.

Other participants at Froiday’s forum included Vanessa Joseph, City of North Miami clerk and Catholic Legal Services supervising attorney; Mario Chouloute, Consul General of Haiti; Stanley Rigaud, Vice President of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, and Qunyatta Warren, the manager of the Little Haiti Cultural Complex.

Guerda Nicolas, co-founder and president of the Ayiti Community Trust, called for further collaboration between the federal agency and Haitian community members in South Florida.

“The United States has to be a better ally to Haiti.,” he said. “There is a direct line between what happens here and the pain suffered in Haiti..”