On Friday, October 17, 2025, the United States and United Nations took a bold step in the ongoing fight against Haiti’s spiraling gang violence, sanctioning two of the most notorious figures accused of fueling the chaos: former presidential security chief Dimitri Hérard and Bel Air gang leader Kempes Sanon. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, these sanctions are aimed squarely at cutting off support for Viv Ansanm, the sprawling gang coalition responsible for much of the lawlessness that has gripped Port-au-Prince and spilled into the countryside.
The U.N. Security Council followed suit just hours later, passing a unanimous resolution that ordered all 193 member states to freeze Hérard’s and Sanon’s assets, impose travel bans, and enforce an arms embargo. As U.N. officials explained, these measures are meant to choke off the financial and logistical lifelines that have allowed Haiti’s gangs to flourish—despite years of international pressure and a formal arms embargo first enacted in 2022.
But how did Haiti find itself in such dire straits, and why are international sanctions now front and center? The story is as complex as it is tragic, involving a deadly mix of political instability, rampant corruption, and a flood of illegal weapons that has turned the capital’s streets into battlegrounds.
Haiti, a nation of roughly 2.6 million people in its capital region alone, has been without an elected president since the assassination of Jovenel Moïse in 2021. In the political vacuum that followed, gangs have seized control of nearly 90% of Port-au-Prince, according to U.N. estimates, and have expanded their reach into rural areas. The violence is staggering: in 2024 alone, more than 5,600 people were killed in gang-related attacks, with one particularly bloody stretch in December seeing at least 207 deaths in the Wharf Jérémie district, the U.N. reported.
Viv Ansanm, the loose federation of criminal groups at the heart of this crisis, owes much of its power to men like Hérard and Sanon. Hérard, once the head of the presidential guard, was jailed in connection with Moïse’s assassination but managed to escape custody in 2024. The U.S. Treasury Department accuses him of directly backing Viv Ansanm’s coordinated attacks against state institutions and supplying firearms and training to gang leaders across the city. “Hérard directly backs Viv Ansanm’s coordinated attacks against state institutions,” the Treasury’s statement read, underscoring the gravity of his alleged involvement.
Sanon, meanwhile, is accused of using his influence in the Bel Air neighborhood—a notorious gang stronghold—to extort residents, kidnap civilians, and impose illegal taxes. The U.N. described him as maintaining “a network of individuals within governmental institutions, including security agencies, which enables him to evade arrest and continue his criminal activities.” Sanon, too, is a fugitive, having escaped from prison in 2021 after being detained for kidnapping and theft.
The scale of the problem is daunting. Despite a U.N. arms embargo in place since October 2022, between 270,000 and 500,000 illegal weapons are believed to be circulating in Haiti, according to the latest figures from the U.N. human rights office. These range from handguns to battlefield-grade semi-automatic rifles, and they’re not just in the hands of gangs. Vigilante groups, formed by desperate communities hoping to defend themselves, have also armed up—sometimes with equally deadly firepower.
How are so many weapons getting into a country that manufactures neither guns nor ammunition? The answer, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), lies in a tangled web of trafficking routes, weak customs enforcement, and pervasive corruption. Most arms enter Haiti via the United States—primarily from Miami and New York—often smuggled through the Dominican Republic or disguised as humanitarian or commercial shipments. In February 2025, authorities in the Dominican Republic intercepted a shipment destined for Haiti that included a heavy Barrett M82 semi-automatic rifle, sniper rifles, an Uzi submachine gun, and over 36,000 rounds of ammunition.
The embargo itself, authorized by the U.N. Security Council in October 2022, is explicit: it bans the supply, sale, or transfer of arms and related materials, along with technical assistance, training, and financial support for military activities. But as the ongoing flow of weapons demonstrates, enforcement remains a major challenge. The UNODC stresses that a “comprehensive and coordinated approach at the national, regional and international levels” is essential, calling for better-equipped customs, port, and border authorities, improved maritime security, and more robust cooperation between Haiti and its neighbors.
Currently, Haiti’s capacity to intercept illegal arms is woefully inadequate. There isn’t even a single large-format scanner capable of efficiently inspecting shipping containers or trucks entering the country. Given that maritime routes are the main entry point for weapons, improving port security is seen as a top priority. Strengthening border controls along the porous frontier with the Dominican Republic is also crucial, as is combating the corruption and illicit financial flows that help traffickers evade detection.
According to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, “Combating corruption and illicit financial flows also remains central to embargo compliance.” The agency is working to coordinate efforts between Haiti, its regional partners, and international donors, providing technical assistance to bolster arms tracing, customs controls, and financial investigations. The logic is simple: since Haiti manufactures neither guns nor ammunition, cutting off the supply of bullets alone could dramatically reduce the gangs’ ability to wage war on each other and terrorize civilians.
Yet, as international observers and members of the Haitian diaspora have pointed out, sanctions and embargoes—while necessary—are not a panacea. Many argue that real progress will require deep reforms within Haiti’s political and policing systems, which have long been plagued by allegations of corruption and complicity with criminal networks. The establishment of a Transitional Presidential Council earlier this year was meant to restore some semblance of governance, but institutions remain largely paralyzed and the rule of law elusive.
Bradley T. Smith, director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, summed up the stakes in a recent statement: the sanctions “underscore the critical role of gang leaders and facilitators like Hérard and Sanon, whose support enables Viv Ansanm’s campaign of violence, extortion, and terrorism in Haiti.” The message is clear—without accountability and a concerted international effort to stem the flow of arms and money, the violence in Haiti will likely persist.
For now, the world watches as Haiti’s crisis deepens, hoping that these latest measures will finally tip the balance toward peace and security. But with so many illegal weapons still in circulation, and the country’s political future uncertain, the path ahead remains fraught with peril—and the stakes, for millions of ordinary Haitians, could not be higher.
