Record seizure of over one tonne of cocaine in Haiti
Haiti's national police seized over one tonne of cocaine on Sunday, one of the largest drug hauls in the country in the past thirty years.
Record seizure of over one tonne of cocaine in Haiti
Haitian law enforcement achieved an exceptional haul on Sunday: more than 1,000 kilogrammes of cocaine packaged in forty-nine sacks. This seizure ranks among the largest ever recorded on the territory in the past thirty years, according to RFI's correspondent in Port-au-Prince, Peterson Luxama.
Haiti's island serves as a major transit point for drug traffickers operating in the Caribbean zone, according to Gotson Pierre, who heads the Alterpresse news agency. While the rise of armed groups contributes to this situation, it does not constitute the only factor explaining the phenomenon.
Since the 1980s, a criminal organisation with worldwide reach has become established on both sides of the border between Haiti and the United States. According to the Alterpresse director's analysis, this consortium includes former military personnel, security service agents, parliamentary elected officials, and business leaders. To conceal their profits, these traffickers use, among other things, the eel trade as a legal front.
Recurring seizure operations on the northern and southern coasts of the island demonstrate the sophistication and long-standing nature of this structure, observes the journalist.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé is currently on a visit to the United States focused on the security crisis shaking his country. This trip has not included high-level meetings with American officials and is expected to conclude on 17 July. Washington views Haitian instability as an immediate danger to its own security as well as to regional balance.
The head of government's agenda was not shared with all ministers, Gotson Pierre specifies. As the presidency of Fritz Alphonse Jean approaches the end of its term in three weeks — a date heavy with symbolism in the transition process — the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) is again shaken by internal divisions.
Source: Google News HT — Crime