Haiti remains engulfed in a deepening security crisis, with armed gangs battling for territory in and around Port-au-Prince while expanding their criminal operations.

The violence has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, worsening an already severe humanitarian and economic emergency. UN officials fear that gangs are increasingly collaborating with international organised crime networks to traffic drugs.

In July 2025, Haitian authorities seized 1 045kg of cocaine near Île de la Tortue in what was described as the country’s largest drug bust in more than 30 years.

Just two weeks later, police confiscated a further 426kg of cannabis in Petite-Anse near Cap-Haïtien. Haiti’s trafficking links extend beyond its borders: in the same month, two Haitian nationals were arrested in Jamaica with over 1 350kg of cannabis.

Investigators believe the cocaine seized in July originated in South America and was intended for distribution across the Caribbean and the US. However, trafficking routes appear to be expanding. In August 2025, Belgian authorities intercepted 1 156kg of cocaine in Antwerp in a container that had originated from Haiti, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Gangs have entrenched themselves along strategic corridors leading in and out of Port-au-Prince and along parts of the border with the Dominican Republic, enabling them to control key transit routes for drugs and other contraband, including arms. Their grip on domestic routes allows them to move drugs with relative impunity and impose extortion on communities and traders.

Some groups are also believed to extort tolls from vessels and carry out armed robberies at sea, exerting influence over maritime trafficking routes. UN officials say Haiti’s worsening insecurity provides fertile ground for organised crime, fuelling a regional trafficking network that now reaches as far as Europe.

–UN/ChannelAfrica–