Haiti prison escapees still on the loose, ‘well beyond 1,000’

Santo Domingo.- Just how many Haitian contract killers, kidnappers, drug traffickers, rapists and other convicted criminals still on the loose after escaping from major prisons isn’t known, but documents and people close to the investigation affirm that it’s well beyond 1,000.

And they are on Dominican soil, on the lam, though law enforcement doesn’t know where, but warn that they pose a threat to the public.

Nearly five years have passed since they crossed the border after escaping from Haitian prisons in the wake of the 2010 quake that devastated that country, as another group escaped from Croix-des – Bouquets prison two months ago.

Also still unknown is how many crossed into Dominican Republic of the more than 700 who escaped Haiti’s National Penitentiary in February 2005, including former Prime Minister Ivon Neptune, when armed men broke into the prison to spring drug dealers and kidnappers.

The authorities’ searches are further complicated since they only have the photos of the escapees of 2010 and of last August, and little individual history file and scant cooperation from Haiti.

Another uncertainty hampering the capture effort is how many could’ve fled to other countries, helped by accomplices in the Dominican Republic.

According to reports, despite intense manhunts there’s no official evidence of progress in the operations.

"There’s no more talk of that because there is no progress. It’s simple. The media also forgot about the case," said a source close to investigation, quoted by listin.com.do.

Since the breakout however, nearly 100 convicts have been recaptured at checkpoints at border crossings, and placed behind bars, including Colombians, Iranians, Indians and Cubans.