Suspect cargo on a small boat in Village-de-Dieu

Images obtained by AyiboPost show a small boat docked with several white bags of unknown contents. Analysts do not rule out the possibility of drug trafficking

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A drone video shows a small boat docked at Village-de-Dieu with white bags on board.

AyiboPost submitted these images, received recently but taken on April 10, 2024, to two specialists.

Both said they could not confirm the nature of the cargo but raised the possibility that it was linked to narcotrafficking.

One of the specialists said Johnson “Izo” André is considered one of Haiti’s top drug traffickers. This allegation comes as the new U.S. administration under Donald Trump identifies Haiti as a major drug transit point and multiplies its initiatives to combat this illicit trade in the region.

In May 2024, AyiboPost revealed, through aerial images, the construction of the dock where the small boat is moored at Village-de-Dieu.

“Having greater maritime capacity gives André’s gang more options to move its soldiers, weapons, and drugs,” an international expert familiar with the gang’s operations, suspected of transnational arms and drug trafficking, told AyiboPost at the time.

It is unclear whether the United States intends to take direct action against Haitian gangs involved in drug trafficking.

André’s gang, known as “5 Segonn,” is considered the richest armed group in the country.

With the port infrastructure still in use, the foreign expert said, 5 Segonn—part of the Viv Ansanm coalition—can generate more money and gain “greater agility” in combat.

A 2023 report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) already stated that the Viv Ansanm coalition—designated as a terrorist group by the United States last May—is also involved in drug and arms trafficking in Haiti.

When the powerful gang coalition was first announced in September 2023, a cocaine shipment was reportedly set to transit through Haiti.

According to a source briefed on the matter and consulted by AyiboPost, Izo was tasked with securing the shipment. The interception of the drugs between Hinche and Maïssade allegedly triggered a conflict among several gangs, resulting in dozens of deaths and hundreds of displaced civilians in September 2023, according to the same source.

After this particularly violent episode, Viv Ansanm disappeared from the radar. The super-gang would re-emerge violently in February 2024, when it attacked the country’s two largest prisons, freed hundreds of prisoners, and forced thousands of residents to flee downtown Port-au-Prince.

According to experts, the gangs’ growing control of major roads and territories facilitates not only kidnappings but also drug and arms trafficking and other illicit activities.

Last July, the National Police announced an operation that intercepted a boat carrying more than 1,000 kilos of cocaine off Tortuga Island in the northwest.

This major seizure led to the deaths of several individuals, including a Jamaican national on board during an exchange of gunfire with police units.

These developments are drawing attention beyond Haiti’s borders.

Since last August, the United States has been deploying military forces in the southern Caribbean to fight drug cartels.

In less than a month, two Venezuelan boats were attacked by U.S. military forces in what several human rights organizations describe as violations of international law.

American authorities justify these actions by citing the presence of “drug traffickers” aboard the targeted vessels.

In a U.S. Senate hearing on September 16, 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel warned senators about Haiti’s central role as a transit point for cocaine coming from Venezuela.

AyiboPost contacted the U.S. Embassy in Haiti regarding the FBI Director’s statements and the potential implications for Haiti of the new American measures in the region to combat drug trafficking.

This article will be updated if a response is received.

Haiti has been a hub for drug trafficking at least since the Duvalier dictatorship.

State officials continued trafficking drugs after the regime’s fall in 1987, working directly with law enforcement.

Local businesses, including hotels, are known to facilitate the laundering of money tied to the trade.

By : Widlore Mérancourt & Wethzer Piercin

Cover : A drone photo showing a small boat docked at Village-de-Dieu with white bags on board. Photo : AyiboPost