Gang leader Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier, surrounded by members of his group in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 5, 2024.AFP
Several units of the Haitian National Police culminated last night a night operation prepared since Friday against one of the strongholds in the capital, Port-au-Prince, of the organization of the criminal leader Jimmy Cherizier (Barbecue), one of the ringleaders of the wave of violence that has dominated the city for months and that has led to the resignation of the Prime Minister, Ariel Henry.
The final operation began late Saturday afternoon in the neighborhood of Delmas, in the north of the city, where the police assault has so far resulted in an undetermined number of criminals killed, according to security sources to the Haitian information portal AlterPresse.
The day before, police had managed to dismantle the barricades protecting the neighborhood before launching the operation in at least five buildings taken over by Cherizier’s criminal organization.
It is not known if Cherizier was in the neighborhood at the time of the operation or if he managed to escape the assault. For the past two weeks, he has been roaming the streets of the capital to gather support for his newly created mafia alliance, Viv Ansanm (Living Together), which has as its ultimate goal the overthrow of the current government institutions.
In a subsequent communiqué published on its social network account X, the 17th Union of the Haitian National Police applauded the action of the forces of law and order and pointed out that “the operation of the last 24 hours demonstrates that the Haitian National Police is not weak, but has been weakened by those who benefit from insecurity, whether they are in charge of the country or in charge of other sectors,” in a new example of the constant tensions between the Police and the Haitian political class.