Jacqui Wakefield, Christopher Giles and Joshua Cheetham
Global Disinformation Unit, BBC World Service
The assault rifles and pistols arrived in Haiti stashed in two cardboard boxes, nestled among packages of food and clothes, on a cargo ship stacked with rust-red shipping containers. An investigation by the BBC revealed how lax US laws and corruption enabled arms trafficking to Haiti, where gangs have escalated violence. Haitian police seized the shipment containing 12 rifles and 14 pistols in April 2024, amidst increasing gang violence that led to over 5,600 deaths in Haiti that year.
