US announces criminal charges against Haitian gang leader Barbecue

US federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against Jimmy Cherizier, the notorious Haitian gang leader known as “Barbecue,” accusing him of financing violent operations in defiance of US sanctions.

Cherizier, a former police officer and leader of the Viv Ansanm (“Live Together”) gang alliance, is alleged to have solicited funds from the Haitian diaspora in the US, along with 48-year-old US citizen Bazile Richardson, to pay gang members and purchase firearms.

The US is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to Cherizier’s arrest. Officials accuse him of orchestrating killings, kidnappings and attacks on infrastructure, including a role in the 2018 La Saline massacre in which 71 people were killed and hundreds of homes destroyed.

Richardson, also known as Fredo, Fred Lion, Leo Danger and Lepe Blode, was arrested in Texas last month. Prosecutors say he grew up in Haiti, later became a US citizen and helped bankroll Cherizier’s “violent criminal enterprise,” according to Assistant US Attorney General John Eisenberg.

The Viv Ansanm gang, designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in May, has controlled most of Port-au-Prince since 2020. Despite being under UN, Canadian and British sanctions, Cherizier remains at large and retains significant street power.

Kenya is leading a 1,000-strong UN-backed security mission in Haiti aimed at dismantling criminal gangs. Kenyan police have regained control of the main port, airport, hospital and highway and are training local officers, though they report a severe shortage of resources.

Haiti has faced deepening turmoil since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, with gang violence causing the collapse of health services, a near-total breakdown of law and order and a worsening humanitarian crisis. UN estimates say 5.7 million people face acute food insecurity and more than a million are displaced.