The United States announces criminal charges against the Haitian gang leader barbecue

American federal prosecutors have announced criminal charges against Jimmy Cherizier, the Haitian gang leader known as “barbecue” which leads a gang alliance which control a large part of the Capitol of Port-au-Prince.

The accusation act alleys that Mr. Cherizier, as well as the American citizens Bazile Richardson, 48, have requested funds from the Haitian community of the diaspora in the United States to help pay gang members and buy firearms in violation of American sanctions.

Mr. Cherizier, a former police officer who is free in Haiti, heads the VIV Ansanm group (Living together). The United States offers $ 5 million (3.7 million pounds sterling) for information leading to its arrest.

The group has been accused of multiple murders, kidnappings and attacks against infrastructure.

“There is a good reason that there is a 5 million dollars award for information leading to the arrest of Cherizier,” American lawyer Jeanine Pirro said on a press conference on Tuesday.

“He is a gang leader responsible for the heinous human rights violations, including violence against American citizens in Haiti.”

Prosecutors say they are suspected of playing a key role in the 2018 Saline massacre, in which 71 people were killed, more than 400 houses were destroyed and at least seven raped women.

Mr. Richardson, who was arrested in Texas last month, is a naturalized American citizen who grew up in Haiti, according to prosecutors. He lived in North Carolina before being placed in police custody.

Also known as Fredo, Fred Lion, Leo Danger and Lepe Blode, he helped collect funds that were then used to pay gang leaders and buy weapons, according to officials.

The two men helped “finance the violent criminal business of Cherizier, who leads to a security crisis in Haiti,” said US prosecutor John Eisenberg.

He added that the United States “will continue to pursue those which allow the violence and instability of Haiti”.

In May, US officials appointed VIV Ansanm, who has controlled the capital since about 2020, as a foreign terrorist organization. Earlier this year, the group announced that it declared a political party.

In addition to the United States, Mr. Cherizier is also under sanction from the United Nations, Canada and Great Britain, which accuses him of having fueled violence in Haiti.

If it is arrested, it could be extradited to the United States. However, he remains in a significant position of power in the streets and is protected by members of his group.

In 2021, President Jenel Moïse was assassinated by unidentified armed men in Port-au-Prince.

Since then, the country – the poorest of the Americas – has been struck by economic chaos, the little political control operating and the gang war more and more violent.

The control of gangs in Port-au-Prince led to an almost complete break in law and order, the collapse of health services and the emergence of a food security crisis.

In recent months, a security force led by Kenyan supported by the UN has failed to regain control of the Haitian capital.

Meanwhile, the country’s humanitarian crisis has flowed at new levels. The United Nations reports estimate that 5.7 million people – more than half of the population of Haiti – are faced with acute food insecurity and there are more than a million in -house people.