The American guns turning Haiti’s gangs into an army

Joseph Lestrange, a former DHS official, explains that transnational gangs recruit straw buyers with clean records to purchase firearms legally, as seen in the case of Joly Germine of the 400 Mawozo gang, who orchestrated gun buys from jail to enhance his power in Haiti. Funded by kidnappings, Germine’s operation involved sending $37,500 to the U.S. for gun purchases, leading to his extradition and guilty plea in 2024.

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