US offers $3 million reward, possible relocation, for information on finances of Haiti gangs

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The U.S. on Wednesday offered a reward of up to $3 million and possible relocation in ​exchange for information on the financial activities of Haiti’s ‌Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif criminal groups.Washington has designated both groups, which bring together hundreds of gangs in the capital Port-au-Prince, agricultural ​Artibonite region and central Haiti, as terrorist organizations.The U.S. ​announcement marks a shift in tactics; previous bounties have ⁠been focused on individual gang leaders.Haitian security forces, with the ​support of a U.N.-backed force deployed three years ago and a ​U.S. private military company, have intensified attacks on armed gangs that control most of the capital, but have yet to make a major ​gang leader’s arrest.Once dependent on sponsorship from elites, Haiti’s ​gangs have grown more economically independent as they cemented control over the capital ‌and ⁠extended to rural areas in recent years.Besides controlling roads and checkpoints, they are accused of collecting funds through extortion, thousands of ransom kidnappings, gun, drug and organ trafficking, and theft ​of vehicles, buildings ​and crops.More ⁠than 1.4 million people have been displaced by the conflict with gangs, which has exacerbated ​food insecurity, and close to 20,000 have been ​reported ⁠violently killed in Haiti since 2021. The death toll has climbed every year.According to the U.N., most gang killings are the result ⁠of ​firearms that are illegally trafficked into ​the country, with many believed to come through U.S. ports in Florida and Georgia.