Insecurity has caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Haitians, adding to the humanitarian and economic crises facing the country.
There are fears that gangs are increasingly working with international organized crime networks to traffic drugs.
What drugs have been seized and where?
In July 2025, a record 1,045 kilograms of cocaine were seized near Haiti’s Île de la Tortue, off the Caribbean nation’s northern coast, in a maritime operation conducted by Haitian authorities. It was the country’s largest drug bust in more than 30 years.
Just two weeks later, 426 kg of cannabis was confiscated in Petite-Anse, near Cap-Haïtien, also in the north of the country.
There have been additional seizures elsewhere. Also in July, two Haitian citizens were arrested in Jamaica with more than 1,350 kg of cannabis.
Where are the drugs sent?
The cocaine seized in July is believed to have come from South America and was intended, investigators believe, for distribution throughout the Caribbean and the United States.
There is also recent evidence received by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) about drugs being shipped to Europe. In August 2025, Belgian authorities seized 1,156 kg of cocaine in the port of Antwerp in a container from Haiti.
How are gangs involved in Haiti?
The largest gangs have entrenched themselves along strategic corridors in and out of the capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as along the border with the neighboring Dominican Republic, controlling key transit routes for drugs and other contraband, including weapons.
Control of national routes allows gangs not only to extort the local population but also to move drugs with impunity, much of them destined for export.
Some gangs are reported to charge tolls on ships and engage in armed robbery at sea, exerting some level of control over trade and trafficking routes.
Armed gang members walk through a Port-au-Prince neighborhood
Jamaican intelligence also links the firearms seizures to a weapons-for-drugs trade involving Haitian gangs.
Why has Haiti become a drug transshipment point?
Much of the international drug trafficking activity has centered on Tortue Island, which has long been a strategic point for transnational criminal operations, in part due to its considerable size and remoteness.
Historically it was exploited by pirates and, in recent decades, by organized criminal networks involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking and other illicit activities.
Its geographical position, which provides direct maritime access to the Bahamas and Jamaica, as well as the Turks and Caicos Islands, makes it suitable as a logistics and storage platform for illicit shipments.
Weapons and ammunition are often trafficked to Haiti along the same routes as drugs.
Traffickers have been able to take advantage of Haiti’s difficulties to build a strong judicial and criminal system that can address the expansion of criminal gangs and the illegal activities they carry out.
What is the regional impact?
Haiti is rapidly becoming a central hub for a multinational trafficking network. The traffickers involved in the cocaine shipment were citizens of the Bahamas and Jamaica, underscoring the presence of regional actors collaborating with their Haitian counterparts.
Drug seizures in both Haitian and European waters indicate sophisticated, coordinated and established trafficking routes that require a robust regional response from law enforcement agencies.
Newly established drug routes also overlap with migrant smuggling operations, in which Haitian nationals are increasingly involved.
Meanwhile, drug trafficking contributes to regional instability, undermines governance, disrupts economies and fuels violence.
Ports, trade routes and tourism sectors in affected countries face increased security challenges and reputational damage.
How does UNODC support Haiti’s efforts to combat drug trafficking?
UNODC is bolstering border security, strengthening maritime control, promoting intelligence-based surveillance and tackling corruption and financial crimes that allow trafficking networks to operate.
The agency’s work begins at the borders, where Haiti remains highly vulnerable to illicit flows.
At the request of Haitian authorities, a national border management initiative designed to increase interdiction capacity at ports, airports and land borders has been launched.
The Haitian Coast Guard repatriates migrants who had fled the country through established smuggling routes.
At sea, the UNODC Global Maritime Crime Program is focused on strengthening the Haitian Coast Guard, which plays a critical role in securing maritime routes that are largely used for narcotics and human trafficking.
On land, UNODC is strengthening the capacity of law enforcement to conduct intelligence-based operations against organized criminal groups involved in migrant smuggling, human trafficking and overlapping criminal activities. Information sharing between Haiti and regional partners has also intensified, which is essential to identifying and dismantling cross-border criminal networks.
Recognizing that drug trafficking is enabled by entrenched corruption and the laundering of proceeds of crime, UNODC is implementing government initiatives aimed at strengthening institutional integrity and accountability.
Specialized courts capable of handling cases of financial crimes, money laundering, gang-related crimes and other sensitive criminal matters are being launched, with the aim of reducing impunity and restoring confidence in the justice system.