US sanctions former Haitian security head, gang leader for aiding gang coalition

The U.S. Treasury Department slapped sanctions on the former head of Haitian presidential security when the leader of the Caribbean nation was assassinated, and the leader of a Haitian gang Friday.

The agency said the two men supported a coalition of gangs that the Trump administration designated as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year.

The sanctions were placed on Dimitri Herard, a former police officer who was imprisoned in connection with the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. The Treasury wrote in a statement that since he escaped from prison in 2024, he “colluded” with Haiti’s most powerful gang coalition, Viv Ansanm, which has brought the country to its knees in recent years.

Officials said Herard provided “training and firearms” to gang leaders, and “directly backs the Viv Ansanm’s coordinated attacks against State institutions.”

The department also sanctioned Kempes Sanon, the head of the Bel Air gang, one of the many criminal groups that make up Viv Ansanm’s gang coalition. Besides helping the coalition consolidate power in the Caribbean nation, the Treasury accused Sanon of “indiscriminate civilian killings, extortion, illicit taxation, and kidnappings in Haiti.”

“Today’s action underscores the critical role of gang leaders and facilitators like Herard and Sanon, whose support enables Viv Ansanm’s campaign of violence, extortion, and terrorism in Haiti,” wrote Bradley T. Smith, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, in a statement.

The sanctions freeze all their properties in the U.S. and block business transactions with the two men.

Gang violence has crippled Haiti since the 2021 assassination of Moïse, which thrust the country into chaos. For years, gangs have violently seized control over much of Haiti, terrorizing civilians as the international community has struggled to find solutions to ease the bloodshed.