After cops were killed, Haiti police launched an operation. Here’s what happened next

An anti-gang operation launched in late January by Haiti’s national police force has led to the deaths of several suspected gang members, the confiscation of dozens of firearms and the arrests of more than 2,700 people, the agency announced Wednesday.

Dubbed “Operation Tornado,” the effort was launched on Jan. 26 after 11 police officers were killed during separate gang ambushes a week apart. The killings led to angry police officers and their supporters rioting in the street, burning tires, blocking roads and shooting their guns in the air.

As part of the increased focus against gangs, specialized units of the Haiti National Police have been carrying out operations almost non-stop. Those efforts, Haiti National Police Spokesman Garry Desrosiers said during a press conference Wednesday, have led to the arrests of at least 10 suspected gang members as well as the liberation of a kidnapped victim in the city of Léogâne.

The hostage, Desrosiers said, had been held for 22 days. During the police operation, carried out Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, two people were arrested and a presumed kidnapper was killed, he said.

“The police carried out several interventions in gangs’ home turfs,” Desrosiers said.

The police’s success, he said, is the result of assistance from the public. While members of the population have joined police officers in tracking down suspected gang members, they have also been arming themselves with machetes and publicly lynching people believed to be in gangs.

In its latest report, the United Nations says that it is seeing a worrying increase in mob killings and lynchings of alleged gang members, with at least 164 documented in April.

At the same time, a study by Port-au-Prince based Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights said that as a result of citizens’ “awakening,” there was a drastic reduction in kidnappings between April 24th and May 24th. There were “almost no cases of abductions reported and other manifestations of gang violence,” the center said. Also, only 40 homicides were reported. There were 1,647 criminal incidents, including rapes and homicides, reported the first few months of this year, based on U.N. figures.

According to the Haiti National Police’s partial assessment, between Jan. 26 and May 26, police arrested 2,703 individuals were arrested; confiscated 70 firearms and 2,661 rounds of ammunition; confiscated 9 kilos of cocaine and 16 kilos of marijuana, 40 vehicles and two boats, and recuperated 27 stolen vehicles. Also seized during the time frame: 723,466 Haitian gourdes — the equivalent of $5,170 —and another $39,000 in U.S. currency.

Among those arrested were several suspected gang members accused of arms trafficking, the hijacking of goods and other crimes. They included a tattoo artist who worked for the Village de Dieu gang and key lieutenants to several high-profile gangs including 400 Mawozo, the notorious gang behind the kidnapping of 16 Americans and one Canadian missionary in the fall of 2021.

Desrosiers noted that the operations were carried out throughout the country and arrests were made in the north, the south and central departments.

“The will and mobilization of the police are there,” he said. “The interventions will continue despite all of the difficulties we have as far as logistics and equipment. We have to be clear about that.... But the police are determined and armed with courage.”