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US Treasury Department sanctions former head of Haitian presidential security when he was leader Caribbean The nation was assassinated, and on Friday a Haitian gang leader was killed.
The agency said both men supported an alliance of gangs trump The administration designated it as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year.
The sanctions were imposed on former police officer Dimitri Herard, who was jailed in connection with the 2021 assassination of former President Jovenel Moise. Treasury wrote in a statement that since he escaped from prison in 2024, he has “colluded” with Vives Ansnam, Haiti’s most powerful gang alliance, which has brought the country to its knees in recent years.
Authorities said Herard provides “training and firearms” to gang leaders, and “directly supports Viv Ansanam’s coordinated attacks against state institutions.”
The department also sanctioned Kemp Sanon, the head of bel air Gang, one of several criminal groups that make up the gang alliance of Viv Ansanam. In addition to helping solidify the alliance in the Caribbean nation, the Treasury accused Sanon of “indiscriminate civilian killings, extortion, illegal taxation and kidnapping in Haiti.”
“Today’s action underscores the critical role of gang leaders and facilitators like Herard and Sanon, whose support enabled Vives Ansanem’s campaign of violence, extortion, and terrorism in Haiti,” Bradley T. Smith, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, wrote in a statement.
Under the sanctions, all their assets in the US were frozen and business transactions with both individuals were barred.
Gang violence has paralyzed Haiti since Moise’s assassination in 2021, plunging the country into chaos. For years, gangs have violently taken over much of Haiti, terrorizing civilians as the international community struggles to find solutions to reduce the bloodshed.