Rapes, kidnappings, summary justice… Krisla and his soldiers impose their law on a commune of 500,000 inhabitants
In March 2025, in Arcachon 32, in the commune of Carrefour, a mundane neighbor dispute over access to a water tap spiraled into horror when Bosal, a gang leader based in the area, intervened in the conflict.
Called upon by one of the families, the man arrived with his crew and abducted three members of the opposing side, without warning.
Raphaella, 26, one of the abducted persons, told AyiboPost that she was held captive, beaten, and raped alongside her cousin for several days.
After their release, both women were forced to flee the commune, under threats from Bosal, a lieutenant of the influential Chrisla « Krisla » Chéry’s gang.
This episode, far from isolated, reveals the far-reaching grip of gangs over this commune of half a million inhabitants, which they have held since at least 2024, following the departure of the last police officers.
Without necessarily driving residents out, they move into neighborhoods, imposing a forced coexistence in which they set themselves up as judges and executioners.
To consolidate this grip, Krisla places his lieutenants in neighborhoods such as Diquini, Bizoton, Arcachon, and Mon Repos. These sub-chiefs collect tolls, extort businesses, and run private « prisons » where those who defy their arbitrary order are held.
This parallel justice system, illustrated by the ordeal lived by Raphaella, is now on full display on social media.
In July 2025, a video that went viral features a voice interrogating an eighteen-year-old woman accused of having abandoned her six-month-old baby, and threatening anyone who commits such acts with « imprisonment » and the payment of a « fine » to secure their release.
Vans driving by. In the background, the “dèyè pòs” market next to the Saint-Charles police substation in Carrefour, March 2026.
A few weeks earlier, another clip showed a fifteen-year-old girl, her face badly bruised, being pressed with questions by gang leader Krisla for having stabbed her boyfriend after he had struck her.
This violence hits the most vulnerable hardest, in the context of the expanding influence of armed gangs.
Between January and November 2024, the feminist organization Nègès Mawon documented 436 cases of sexual violence in the West department. According to their findings, Carrefour joins Cité-Soleil and Gressier among the most deadly zones for women.
Two Carrefour residents interviewed by AyiboPost expressed concern over the recruitment of young people from their neighborhoods into the gang led by Krisla.
According to the latest UNICEF data, the recruitment and use of children by armed groups in Haiti exploded in 2025, increasing by approximately 200% compared to the previous year.
« I know several young people I grew up with, and others much younger than me, who are now enlisted in the gang, » a 25-year-old videographer living in the Lamentin neighborhood told AyiboPost.
Since the criminals arrived, he continued, we live in fear. « In my neighborhood, for example, we have to watch what we say and who we say it to, because everyone is considered a potential associate of the armed gangs, » said the man, who prefers to remain anonymous to avoid retaliation.
The young videographer told AyiboPost that he narrowly avoided appearing in a selfie video filmed by a gang, weapons in hand, in the parking lot of a supermarket last December. The gangs are omnipresent, and he feared his image would be associated with them in videos circulated on social media.
In the absence of any law enforcement presence on the streets, armed criminals do not hesitate to appear in public, film themselves, or show up armed at bank tellers or even in supermarkets.
In this context, residents describe having reshaped their daily lives around the gangs’ growing influence.
For instance, a physiotherapy student who has lived in the commune for over twelve years recounted that in 2025, while on his way to church in Fontamara, he crossed paths with one of the local gang members, who implied he could shoot him to take his boots.
According to this student, who prefers to remain anonymous for security reasons, pastors now advise their congregants against wearing flashy clothing to « avoid trouble. »
To fund their lifestyle and pursue their criminal activities, the gangs have multiplied toll checkpoints inside the commune while extorting businesses.
In 2025, a 26-year-old student and craftsman watched his barely-launched small sandal-making business falter, unable to source raw materials locally. The installation of about ten illegal toll points between downtown Port-au-Prince and Carrefour has caused prices for certain goods to skyrocket.
« A product bought in Port-au-Prince for 500 gourdes can be resold here for nearly 1,000 gourdes, » said the man, who does not wish to reveal his identity as he still lives in the commune. He says he knows other entrepreneurs also forced to shut down their businesses or leave the area.
Last January, public transport drivers had to go on a three-day strike to protest the installation of a new extortion checkpoint on rue Magasin de l’État. This reality persists despite the multiple interventions announced by law enforcement.
Carrefour Civil Prison, Jean Jacques Dessalines Boulevard, March 2026. Photo : AyiboPost
One of the most important medical facilities in the area, the Hôpital Adventiste d’Haïti in Diquini, does not escape the sphere of influence of the armed criminals. « Sometimes they manage to get into the emergency room, where they have their wounded members treated after police drone strikes, » a source inside the hospital told AyiboPost.
In April 2025, after several months away from the commune due to the insecurity caused by gang presence, Carrefour’s sitting mayor, Jude Édouard Pierre, announced his resignation from the municipal council. A few days later, gang leader Krisla called for a strike that paralyzed the commune, demanding the appointment of a new mayor.
Elsewhere in the city, residents resist in their own ways. To shield their children from this hostile environment, some parents turn away from local schools.
A 35-year-old woman, who requests anonymity for security reasons, told AyiboPost that she prefers to personally walk her two daughters — aged three and nine — to school in Bois-Verna every day, crossing the Martissant road, rather than enrolling them in a local institution. She justifies this choice by her desire to ensure her children « don’t fall in with the wrong crowd. »
Other residents go as far as setting up their own recreational spaces in their neighborhoods, rather than using those established by the armed groups.
« In recent months, three new bars have opened in my neighborhood. People are looking to distance themselves from the gangs’ grip, » another student from the State University of Haiti, living in Mon Repos, told AyiboPost. « The gangs claim to be replacing the state in the commune, » the young humanities student continued, « but all they have done is replicate its worst failures. »
Wethzer Piercin , Fenel Pélissier & Ronaldo Jerôme
Cover | A van in front of the Carrefour Civil Prison, March 2026. Photo : AyiboPost
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Wethzer Piercin, Pelissier, Ronaldo Jerôme
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