The State Department put a $5 million bounty on a notorious Haitian gangster nicknamed “Barbecue” who was indicted for allegedly funneling money from the U.S. to his gang’s coffers, the agency announced Tuesday.
The federal government will pay the bounty to anyone willing to provide information that leads to Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier’s arrest in any nation. The bounty follows the Department of Justice (DOJ) issuing an accompanying Tuesday indictment against Cherizier alleging that he violated U.S. sanctions on Haiti by funneling money to his gang with the help of Bazile Richardson, a U.S. citizen.
“The Department of State is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Jimmy Cherizier, the leader of Foreign Terrorist Organization Viv Ansanm,” Senior Bureau Official Chris Landberg of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs said in a statement. “The State Department will continue to apply its tools, including rewards programs, to combat the scourge of transnational organized crime and its violence — especially to stop the worst of the worst criminal ringleaders threatening the people of our hemisphere.” (RELATED: Haitian Government Reportedly Partnering With Erik Prince To Fight Gangs)
Police patrol around Bernard Mevs hospital where armed gangs have spread violence in Port-au-Prince on December 17, 2024. (Photo by CLARENS SIFFROY/AFP via Getty Images)
Cherizier is the leader of Viv Ansanm, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization and powerful gang alliance operating in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, according to the DOJ. The organization formed to unite the nation’s gangs to oppose the government, igniting a brutal, protracted conflict that has killed and displaced thousands of Haitians.
The leader, with the help of his confidant Richardson, allegedly solicited money transfers from Haitian nationals living in the U.S., according to the DOJ. After allegedly laundering the money through intermediaries, Chierzier would use the funds to purchase weapons and pay his gang soldiers.
Richardson was arrested July 23 in Texas, and is currently awaiting his trial, according to the DOJ.
Cherizier is believed to be responsible for multiple human rights violations in Haiti, including the La Saline Massacre in 2018, which killed 71 people and destroyed well over 400 homes in the capital. From January to March, over 250 people were killed, 66 injured and more than 3,000 residents were uprooted by gang attacks in Port-au-Prince, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, citing United Nations (UN) data.
Gangs now control over 90% of the nation’s capital, according to the UN.
“Cherizier and a U.S. associate sought to raise funds in the United States to bankroll Cherizier’s violent criminal enterprise, which is driving a security crisis in Haiti,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in a statement. “The National Security Division does not tolerate criminal gang fundraising in the United States, and will continue to pursue those who enable Haiti’s violence and instability.”
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