US Authorities Detect Increase In Arms Smuggling Into Haiti And Caribbean Region

Weapon illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/GYSGT ERIK S. HANSEN)

JAKARTA - US authorities have detected a spike in arms smuggling to Haiti and the Caribbean region in recent months, officials said Wednesday.

The increase is suspected of fueling rampant violence in Haiti, as well as increasing crime in the region.

The announcement followed the outbreak of several bloody gang violence in Haiti that included gun clashes in downtown Port-au-Prince. Meanwhile, countries such as the Bahamas and Jamaica are reporting increasing incidents of gun-related killings.

"We are not only seeing a marked increase in the number of guns, but a serious increase in the caliber and types of firearms that are illegally traded," said Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge of Miami Homeland Security Investigations.

"We have stepped up efforts to stem the flow of illicit weapons into Haiti and the Caribbean," he continued, flanked by officials from other agencies including the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection.

A number of weapons that are suspected to be sent to Haiti and have been recovered include hand guns and various semi-automatic weapons, one of which officials identified as a sniper rifle.

It is known, legal arms exports from the United States require a license from the authorities of Uncle Sam's country. Meanwhile, Haiti is still subject to the arms embargo of the 1990s, which was amended to allow some exceptions for arms exports to Haitian security forces.

Weapons are often obtained in the United States through 'straw buyers'. Some of them identify themselves as end users of weapons, but then export them illegally.

A series of recent arms trade scandals in Haiti, including last month's discovery of weapons in a shipping container labeled as church donations, sparked anger over the continued flow of weapons.

Haitian police on Wednesday arrested a priest from the Haitian church, as part of an investigation into July's gun seizures, a police spokesman told Reuters. Samuel Madistin, a lawyer representing the church, declined to comment.