US federal prosecutors have announced criminal charges against Jimmy Cherizier, the Haitian gang leader known as “Barbecue” who leads an alliance of gangs that control much of the capitol of Port-au-Prince.
The indictment alleges that Mr Cherizier, as well as US citizen Bazile Richardson, 48, solicited funds from Haitian diaspora community in the US to help pay gang members and buy firearms in violation of US sanctions.
Mr Cherizier, a former police officer who is at large in Haiti, leads the group Viv Ansanm (Live Together). The US is offering $5m (£3.7m) for information leading to his arrest.
The group has been accused of multiple murders, kidnappings and attacks on infrastructure.
“There’s a good reason that there’s a $5m reward for information leading to Cherizier’s arrest,” US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said at a news conference on Tuesday.
“He’s a gang leader responsible for heinous human rights abuses, including violence against American citizens in Haiti.”
Prosecutors say he is suspected of playing a key role in the 2018 La Saline massacre, in which 71 people were killed, more than 400 houses were destroyed, and at least seven women raped.
Mr Richardson, who was arrested in Texas last month, is a naturalised US citizen who grew up in Haiti, prosecutors say. He was residing in North Carolina before he was taken into custody.
Also known as Fredo, Fred Lion, Leo Danger, and Lepe Blode, he helped raise funds that were then used to pay gang leaders and purchase weapons, according to officials.
Both men helped “bankroll Cherizier’s violent criminal enterprise, which is driving a security crisis in Haiti”, said Assistant US Attorney General John Eisenberg.
He added that the US “will continue to pursue those who enable Haiti’s violence and instability”.
In May, US officials designated Viv Ansanm, which has controlled the capital since around 2020, as a foreign terrorist organisation. Earlier this year, the group announced that it was declaring itself a political party.
In addition to the US, Mr Cherizier is also under sanctions from the United Nations, Canada and Britain, which accuse him of fueling violence in Haiti.
If arrested, he could be extradited to the US. However, he remains in a position of significant power on the streets and is protected by his group’s members.
In 2021, President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated by unidentified gunmen in Port-au-Prince.
Since then the country – the poorest in the Americas – has been wracked by economic chaos, little functioning political control and increasingly violent gang warfare.
Gang control in Port-au-Prince has led to an almost complete breakdown of law and order, the collapse of health services and emergence of a food security crisis.
In recent months, a UN backed Kenyan led security force has failed to take back control of the Haitian capital.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in the country has sunk to new levels. UN reports estimate that 5.7 million people – more than half of Haiti’s population – are facing acute food insecurity and there are over one million internally displaced people.
