The Viv Ansanm gang coalition and Gran Grif were designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists by Secretary of State Marco Rubio last year, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
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Despite that, the armed groups have continued to wreak havoc, collecting millions of dollars in extortion fees from toll roads and their control of strategic corridors leading to the country’s seaports and land border with the neighboring Dominican Republic.
On Wednesday, Rewards for Justice, a State Department program, issued social media posts seeking help to disrupt the gangs and curb their violence. “You could be eligible for relocation and a reward of up to $3,000,000,” the notice said.
“Send your alert in complete confidentiality, today.” In the request to help cut off the “lifeline” of Haitian gangs, Reward for Justice lists some of their crimes: extortion, kidnapping, arms and drug trafficking as well as hijacking.
In the country’s rural Artibonite valley, Gran Grif has also been tied to the theft of crops and livestock, contributing to Haiti being among the world’s top hotspot for hunger.
In addition to hunger, the violence has also been driving record numbers of displacements as Haitians are forced to flee their homes. The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration recently reported that 1.45 million Haitian are now internally displaced. With that have come worsening conditions for families living in displacement sites, Mercy Corps., a nonprofit said Wednesday in an analysis of the impact of the gang violence it released.
