The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is closing its field office in Haiti despite growing concerns over drug trafficking in the country. This decision comes as Haiti, plagued by armed gangs, has become a key transit point for drugs like South American cocaine and cannabis from Jamaica.
President Joe Biden recently added Haiti to a list of 23 countries designated as "major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries." This list includes 13 Latin American nations, such as Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela, which, the list claims, either facilitate drug trafficking or serve as sources of banned substances. It also includes Caribbean countries like Jamaica and Belize.
Regardless, the administration is reallocating DEA resources to focus on global synthetic drug supply chains, such as fentanyl, rather than the drugs smuggled through Haiti, largely cocaine and marijuana.
Speaking to the Miami Herald, Luis Moreno, a former State Department official with extensive experience in Latin American narcotics control, called the DEA's decision "shortsighted". He emphasized that Haitian gangs, which control vast swaths of territory, are increasingly funding their violent activities through drug money. Moreno and other experts worry that the DEA's absence will weaken the U.S.'s ability to track and combat these gangs' operations and their links to cartels in South America and Mexico.
A DEA spokesperson also told the outlet that the decision was part of a broader review of foreign operations, which resulted in the closure of 14 offices, including in The Bahamas and Nicaragua. The agency plans to open new offices elsewhere in the world to focus on addressing the global fentanyl crisis. Jordan and Albania have been floated as potential locations.
The DEA's withdrawal is seen as a potential blow to efforts aimed at controlling drug trafficking and gang violence in Haiti. Gang leaders, such as Izo from the 5 Segond group, are increasingly positioning themselves as regional drug lords, openly referring to themselves as cartel leaders. The flow of firearms and drugs into the country, facilitated by these gangs, has contributed to destabilizing Haiti, and international criminal networks are suspected to have links to groups in Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela.
The DEA's closure of its office also hampers U.S. sanctions efforts against Haitian politicians and businessmen suspected of gang involvement. These sanctions, often tied to drug trafficking, require detailed local knowledge, which the DEA's field office provided.
Haiti's struggles with drug trafficking are not new. The country's role as a narco-state began in the 1980s, when Colombian cartels used it as a transit point for cocaine bound for the United States. Over time, however, arrests have declined, raising concerns about the effectiveness of anti-drug efforts. Recent incidents, such as the arrest of four Colombians linked to cocaine smuggling, highlight ongoing cartel activity in the country.
The decision also comes as the U.N. warns of growing organized crime across the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos Islands, which have seen a surge in Haitian migration and drug-related violence. Amid shocking levels of violence, poverty and malnutrition in Haiti, children are in extreme jeopardy. According to UNICEF, nearly three million kids need humanitarian support in the country, the highest number on record.
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