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The police raid took place off the coast of northern Haiti near
Tortue Island where traffickers are suspected of transferring
drugs, Port-de-Paix prosecutor Jeir Pierre told Radio Caraïbes
on Tuesday.
Pierre said police have long postponed any action at that
location because of a lack of resources, but noted that a
regional police director recently requested a boat to use around
Tortue Island.
“We have had this area in our sights for a long time,” Pierre
said.
Police approached a suspected drug trafficking boat on Sunday
and ordered the suspects aboard to raise their hands, but they
did not comply and instead opened fire at the officers, Pierre
said.
Officers returned fire, with two suspected drug traffickers
jumping into the ocean and later dying. A third suspected drug
trafficker died on shore while a fourth one, from the Bahamas,
was injured and later arrested, Pierre said.
Police said on X that one of suspects who died was a man from
Jamaica.
Pierre said no Haitian police officers were injured.
The U.S. government has previously noted that powerful people in
Haiti are involved in the country’s drug trade.
In August 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned former
Haitian President Michel Martelly, accusing him of abusing his
influence to facilitate the trafficking of drugs, including
cocaine, destined for the U.S.
“Many of Haiti’s political and business elites have long been
involved in drug trafficking and have been linked to the gangs
responsible for the violence that has destabilized Haiti,” the
Treasury Department said.
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