On August 17, at a press conference in Miami-Dade County, federal officials said that the United States Government had seen an increase in recent months in the smuggling of firearms and ammunition from the United States to Haiti.

Anthony Salisbury, the special agent in charge of Homeland Security investigations in Miami, said officers in the investigations office are stepping up their efforts to stop the flow of contraband weapons.

Salisbury near tables displaying weapons that U.S. authorities have seized in South Florida destined for Haiti, said officers have noticed an increase in not only the volume of weapons but also the caliber of those weapons.

The "Homeland Security Investigations" (HSI) has announced a set of measures to thwart arms trafficking to Haiti. The HSI and its partners will investigate and prosecute anyone involved in illegal arms trafficking.

For his part, Vernon T. Foret, Director of Operations at Customs and Border Protection for the Miami and Tampa region explained, "We make it a priority to inspect all cargo ships bound for Haiti. We will also inspect all packages sent by air [...] with our partners, we will use all the tools at our disposal to identify and seize weapons and ammunition destined for the Caribbean and Haiti in particular."

Special Agent Salisbury took the opportunity to present to the press a set of firearms seized and intended for Haiti. Among these weapons were .50 caliber rifles capable of firing up to 5,000 meters [the ammunition of such a caliber is capable of piercing 2.5 cm of armor at 200 meters, emphasizing that these weapons can cause considerable destruction, without revealing the exact number of weapons confiscated or the operations carried out in recent months due to ongoing investigations.

He added that in previous years, the weapons arriving from Florida to Haiti were mostly pistols, and in small quantities, and that the current trend reflected an increase in quantity and caliber alarming for the United States Government... (confiscated weapons, besides handguns also include assault rifles, machine guns and .50 caliber weapons)

Salisbury insisted on deploying additional resources to the routes taken by the traffickers, as well as possible openings on new routes, and that efforts not only focus on seizing the weapons, but also on the flow of money that finances this smuggling.

TB/ HaitiLibre