UN Reports Modern Weapons Being Smuggled to Haiti from US

Increasingly sophisticated weapons are being trafficked into Haiti mainly from the United States and especially from Florida amid worsening lawlessness in the impoverished Caribbean nation, according to a UN report released Friday.

The report by the Vienna-based Office on Drugs and Crime said a network of criminal actors including members of the Haitian diaspora “often source firearms from across the US” and smuggle them into Haiti illegally by land from the neighboring Dominican Republic, by air including to clandestine airstrips, but most frequently by sea, The AP reported.

“Popular handguns selling for $400-$500 at federally licensed firearms outlets or private gun shows in the US can be resold for as much as $10,000 in Haiti,” the report said.

“Higher-powered rifles such as AK47s, AR15s and Galils are typically in higher demand from gangs, commanding correspondingly higher prices,” it added.