Impunity in Haiti: Jean Édouard Baussan, a Big Shot in the Spotlight

Six years after an incriminating report, powerful figures continue to defy justice while guns flood the country. Yet, the DCPJ had done its job. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – December 1, 2025 – The image is nightmarish yet commonplace: in the streets of Port-au-Prince, in provincial areas, adolescents armed with US-made assault rifles parade on social media, in the streets of Port-au-Prince. These weapons are often transited through ports, customs, financial channels, and networks of influence that seem to operate with complete impunity, despite repeated warnings. At the heart of this obscure system, a name has persistently resurfaced for years, revealing the deep links between economic power, arms trafficking, and the collapse of the state. 2019, The Accusatory Report The story goes back to an explosive document, now almost forgotten in the tumult of the crisis. In 2019, a report by the Central Directorate of Judicial Police (DCPJ), signed by Commissioner Rodrigue Pierre, already pointed fingers at one of Haiti's economic elite giants, businessman Jean Édouard Baussan. The document accused him of being at the center of an arms trafficking network supplying gangs, in complicity with Dumond Franck Aby Larco. Indeed, the latter was arrested in December 2019 and sentenced to four years in prison. Against Baussan, the Central Directorate of Judicial Police (DCPJ) had requested an arrest warrant. But the case then ran up against the highest levels of power at the time. A hearing in June 2023 has, so far, yielded no follow-up. When the System Persists Despite Overwhelming Evidence Today, despite this dubious judicial past, Jean Édouard Baussan still exerts major influence over public ports, these vital arteries through which, according to UN and NGO experts, hundreds of containers transit, only a tiny fraction of which are inspected. He also controls UNIBANK. More recently, in September 2025, his name was associated with the appointment of the Director General of Customs, Gérald Remplais. This revelation highlights a pernicious mechanism: the infiltration of the very institutions meant to control borders and enforce the UN-decreed arms embargo in 2022. Haiti and the Phantom Arms Embargo This is precisely the tragic paradox. While the UN Security Council renews its embargo, detailed reports like that of the BBC in April 2025 or Amnesty International's as early as 2006 trace an implacable route: weapons mostly depart from the United States, particularly Florida, “the gun-polishing state.” They are purchased by “straw buyers,” concealed in shipments of essential goods, and sent to Haiti. The trafficking relies on a chain of failures: lax US gun laws, almost non-existent port controls, and endemic corruption within Haitian customs. As one expert summarized to the BBC: “We have the diagnosis, we know the symptoms, but we do nothing to truly heal.” Haiti, the Nation Under Gang Fire The consequences are measured in human lives. The UN estimates that between 270,000 and 500,000 illegal weapons circulate in a country that manufactures none. In 2024, over 5,600 people were killed in gang-related violence. Entire neighborhoods are under their control; kidnappings and sexual violence, sparing no one, whether woman or man, are systematic. Precision rifles and heavy weapons, like the Barrett .50, an anti-materiel weapon, are now appearing in seizures, illustrating a deadly escalation. The Imperative of Justice for Influential Figures Faced with this scourge, international justice sometimes flexes its muscles. In February 2024, Jocelyn Dor was sentenced in the United States to five years in prison for exporting weapons to the 400 Mawozo gang. The “king” of the gang, Joly Germine, faces life imprisonment. These convictions are necessary, but they often target the perpetrators, the “straw buyers.” The real challenge lies in Haiti itself: to break the impunity of the masterminds, of those who, protected by their wealth and connections, use state infrastructure to bring in weapons and launder ransom money. The Baussan case, six years ago, has become the symbol of this obstructed justice. A Great and Noble Battle for the Survival of the State The fight against arms trafficking is not just a police matter. It is a battle for the survival of the rule of law. It requires tackling the three pillars of trafficking:

1. supply (with increased pressure on the United States),
2. border corruption (with a cleanup of customs and ports),
3. and money laundering (with strict control of the banking sector).

As long as influential figures can presumably use their power to block investigations and control key positions, embargoes will remain wishful thinking. And weapons will continue to arrive, crate after crate, fueling a cycle of violence that consumes the nation. The time for reports gathering dust in drawers is over; it is time for courageous and impartial judicial action. Haiti's future credibility depends on it.