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BBC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Who be Jimmy 'Barbecue' Chérizier, di powerful Haiti gang lord wey dey face US charges?
US federal prosecutors don announce criminal charges against Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier wey be di Haitian gang leader wey dey lead joinbodi of gangs wey dey control most of Port-au-Prince. Di charges accuse oga Cherizer togeda wit US citizen Bazile Richardson, 48 say dem get money from di Haitian diaspora community for di US to help pay gang members and buy firearms wey go against US sanctions. Oga Cherizier wey don lost inside Haiti dey lead di group Viv Ansanm (Live Togeda). Di US dey offer $5m (£3.7m) for information wey go lead to im arrest. Di group dey accused of plenti killings, kidnappings and attacks for infrastructure. If dem arrest Cherizier, e fit dey extradited to US. Howeva, e still get ogbonge power for streets and dey protected by im group members. So who be Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier and how di former policeman don get dis much power? Im street and social media cred Chérizier don position imself as one of di main pesin for di wave of gang kasala wey just dey burst for Haiti for recent years. Di goment don declare state of emergency bicos of di gang kasala wey dey burst for Haiti for recent years taya. Di latest one start for 9 August wey cover plenti parts of di kontri and dey expected to last for three months. Since dem kill President Jovenel Moïse for July 2021, Chérizier don hype revolution against di pipo wey e call di kontri corrupt political elite. Bifor dem kill am, President Moïse bin assign Ariel Henry as im prime minister. Gang leaders demand di resignation of Henry, who bin dey unelected, wey make am announce say e go step down for March last year. Henry bin dey replaced by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé for November 2024. Di kontri now dey under transitional presidential council, and no presidential elections don hapun for di kontri since 2016, wen Moïse bin dey elected. For August, businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr bin dey appointed to be di oga of di council. To ansa, Chérizier do video message tell di public to help im group to reach di council office "for di kasala to free di kontri". For im rise to power, Chérizier don effectively use social networks to give im message out and attract followers to im armed joinbodi. For interview for im YouTube channel, e tok about di importance of social networks. Chérizier tok say, "I thank di pipo wey create dis technologies. Technology today give us di opportunity to sell ourselves to di public. I no dey sell lies. I be who I be. I no do 99% of wetin dem tok say I do... Technology na im allow me to defend myself." One topic wey Chérizier feel di need to defend imself about na how e get di name "Barbecue". For interview wit di AP news agency for 2019, e say dem call am like dat bicos im mama bin dey sell chicken for street, say no be bicos of accuse say e dey burn pipo. According to di United States and di United Nations Security Council, Chérizier don cause serious human rights violations and both Washington and di UN don sama am wit sanctions. As di oga of di collabo of nine of di most dangerous criminal joinbodi for one of di most lawless kontris for di world, Chérizier now dey seen by many as Haiti most powerful gang leader. But e start for di oda side of di law. E bin work bifor for di Departmental Crowd Control Unit of Haiti National Police, wey dem dey deploy for riots or protests till dem sack am for December 2018. Haitian Authorities accuse Chérizier say e become gang leader for di improvished Lower Delmas neighbourhood wia dem born am and dem organise large-scale massacres wey hapun for di nearby slums of Grand Ravine for 2017, La Saline for 2018 and Be-Air for 2019. But Chérizier don deny all di accuse. Dem kill at least nine civilians for Grand Ravine during operation wey start as anti gang raid. Haitian police officers wey include Chérizier raid one school campus to find weapons, dis na according to internal inquiry wey di Haitian goment do. Officers wey dey wit di United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti wey follow di Haitian police and help plan di operation bin tanda outside. Some months later, Susan D. Page, den di oga of di UN mission for Haiti drop statement wey ask for di Haitian authorities to investigate "allegations of human rights violations by units for di Haitian National Police". Di following year, anoda 71 pipo bin dey killed, 11 women bin dey raped, and 150 houses bin dey destroyed for La Saline and at least 24 pipo bin dey killed for Bel-Air for 2019. Dis na according to report wey dem publish for Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic. For June 2020, Chérizier announce for im YouTube channel say e don organise new collabo wey dem call "G9 Family and Allies". At first, e dey made up of nine gangs from Cité Soleil, La Saline and lower Delmas, but dem don grow to get ova a dozen gangs, na wetin UN Security Council report tok. One Harvard report accuse G9 Family and Allies say dem kill at least 145 and rape plenti women for di middle of 2020 "to fit claim areas wey rivals wey get links to Moïse political opponents dey hold", wey be wetin Harvard report. Di report add say "residents believe say dem target dem bicos of dia political affiliations, to fit gada electoral support for (Moïse) and im party. G9 reportedly dey enjoy ties for both di Moïse administration and (Haiti National Police)." Haiti National Human Rights Defense Network don repeat di accuse and claim say na local police dey protect Chérizier. For December 2020, di US Treasury Department wey issue civil sanctions against Chérizier and odas wey pipo reason say dey involved for di massacres, say di gangs kill victims wey include children, "and den drag dem enta street, burn dia bodi, cut dem and feed dem give animals". Chérizier don deny say e get hand for di massacres plenti times, e say e be community leader wey dey help residents and dey lead "army revolution", e come add say e go "put guns for pikin hand if we need to" to fight system of inequality and di elites wey dey control am. E tell AP say, "I no go eva massacre pipo for di same social class wit me. I live for di ghetto. I sabi wetin ghetto life is." Chérizier say im armed fight na to improve di living standards of di poor wey be house, food and clean water, and im gunmen dey give am plenti political ginger. Pierre Esperance, wey be di director of di Haitian non-governmental organisation (NGO) National Network for di Defense of Human Rights, tell BBC Mundo for 2021 say "criminal gangs dey beta equipped dan police and get protection of authorities". But di killing of President Möise for 2021 na im be di breaking point for Chérizier organisation. Dis na wetin di international analysts like di portal Insight crime (wey be foundation wey dey study organised crime for di Americas) tok, bicos e make am lose govment protection. Show of force Chérizier dey show imself as political leader, dey hold news conferences, lead marches for di violent capital and dey regularly use social media take ginger im influence. Yvens Rumbold from di Policité think-tank for Haiti tell The Washington Post, "di bandits go neva dey as powerful as dem be for Haiti without social media". Chérizier use im YouTube account to announce di creation of di G-9 and demand say make di police arrest di former prime minister, and e call for di kontri to dey taken ova to remove di current ruling class for X wey dem bin call Twitter bifor. Meanwhile, for TikTok, examples of personalities from oda gang leaders to rappers wey dey spread gang ideas and send messages about wetin dey hapun for di street of Port-au-Prince dey. But di physical expression of im power for street also dey shocking. Cherizier gang block di den Prime Minster Ariel Henry wey take over after Moise death from placing flowers for di late president monument as dem shoot in di air But di gang leader wear white wit im men by im side, go drop wreath of flowers for di monument for extraordinary demonstration of force. Im gang alliance don dey accused by Haitian authorities for organising fuel blockade for 2022 wey paralyse di kontri for almost two moths to put pressure for Henry govment. Di gasoline shortage worsen di humanitarian situation for Haiti. Na Chérizier announce imself say e dey lift blockade for 6 November 2022. Im G-9 gang don also fight bloody war wit G-Pèp, wey be rival group and tori be say dem dey linked to parties wey oppose di assassinated President Moïse, according to Insight Crime. Shooting and turf battles don turn normal tin wit di two groups and e don spread from di poorest communities go central Port-au-Prince. Tori comot say G-9, G-Pèp bin get truce for late 2023, but fighting still dey go on between di gangs plus including di police and vigilante groups wey start bicos of lack of state protection and force thousands of pipo to run comot dia houses. For recent months, one UN backed Kenyan led security force bin fail to get back control of di Haitian capital. Meanwhile, di humanitarian kasala for di kontri don enta new level. UN report say about 5.7 million pipo, wey be more dan half of Haiti population, dey face serious food insecurity and dia be ova one million IDPs. Additional reporting by Guillermo D. Olmo, Cecilia Barría and Vanessa Buschschlüter.
Free Malaysia Today
06-08-2025
- Free Malaysia Today
Gang leader killed in Bukit Tunku shootout
The shootout occurred at 4.10am during a special operation conducted by Bukit Aman CID and Kuala Lumpur police headquarters. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : A gang leader was killed in a shootout at Jalan Bukit Tunku in Kuala Lumpur early this morning, say police. Bukit Aman acting criminal investigation department (CID) director Fadil Marsus said the suspect had a criminal record with 44 previous cases, and was believed to be the mastermind behind a group involved in house break-ins and drug trafficking in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Perak. The shootout occurred at 4.10am during a special operation conducted by Bukit Aman CID and Kuala Lumpur police headquarters, Harian Metro reported. Fadil said a pistol believed to have been used during the shootout was also seized from the suspect.
Daily Mail
26-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Fugitive gang leader found a YEAR after prison break as his dramatic secret lair is revealed
The leader of one of the most powerful gangs in Ecuador has finally been recaptured more than a year after he escaped from a jail. The military raided a mansion located in the Ecuadorian port city of Manta on Wednesday and found Jose Adolfo 'Fito' Macías hiding in a bunker that was said to have been built beneath the kitchen. A video released by the Ecuadorian Army showed a shirtless Macías pinned down to the ground while armed soldiers repeatedly asked him to identify himself. The lavish, three-floor residence belonged to the 45-year-old 'Los Choneros' gang leader's girlfriend. It featured marbled floors in most of the rooms with LED lighting on the walls along a flight of stairs. The ground level featured a living room with billiards table. One of the floors was equipped with a swimming pool, while another area was set up as a gym. The National Police and the military spent more than 10 hours gathering intelligence on the mansion, which stood out among the humble neighborhood of La Tejedora. 'The operation was carried out with precision and without casualties, once again demonstrating the commitment and operational capacity of the Armed Forces and the entire Security Bloc to ensure the well-being of Ecuadorian families,' the Ecuadorian Army said in a statement. Macías escaped from the Guayaquil Regional Prison in January 2024, where he was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking. Ecuador President Daniel Noboa vowed to hand over Macías to the US government. 'More will fall, we will recover the country,' he said in a post on X. 'We have done our part to proceed with Fito's extradition to the United States; we await your response.' A New York federal court indicted the notorious gang leader and another co-defendant on seven counts, including cocaine distribution and firearm smuggling from the US. Prosecutors have accused Macías' criminal organization of being linked to Mexican cartels and running an enterprise that shipped and distributed tons of cocaine from South America via Central American and Mexico before reaching the United States and beyond. Ecuadorian authorities were offering a $1 million reward for Macías' arrest. Macías was just 20 years old when he was first arrested in on a robbery charge and was then apprehended on drug trafficking and criminal organization charges in 2011 and sentenced to almost three and a half decades. He became a lawyer while in jail while maintaining the command of a criminal organization that graduated from pulling robberies in the middle of the sea to being linked to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and Colombia's Gulf Clan. Macías assumed leadership of Los Choneros alongside Roldán Paredes in 2018 following the extradition of Edison Prado, also known at the 'Pablo Escobar of Ecuador,' to the United States. In an October 2021 jailhouse interview with Ecuadorian digital news outlet La Posta, Macías revealed how Los Choneros controlled five of 12 pavilions at the Guayaquil Regional Prison. Los Choneros and other rival and affiliated gangs operated at will by bribing prison guards and police officers with $80 to $100 a day. He told the outlet that by having the guards and cops on their side, the gangs could smuggle cellphones, drugs, grenades, guns and rifles that permitted each pavilion to operate at free will and in turn generate up $200,000 a month or $280 million a year that would be split between both law enforcement and the criminal network leaders. According to the report, inmates on average paid guards $300 to smuggle phones and $30 a week for access to internet service. The gangs also ran a loan-shark program in each pavilion, lending out anywhere between $5,000 to $50,000 and drawing 30 percent to 100 percent in fees, with guards and the police receiving 10 percent in kickback payments. They also operated food stands, which basically replaced the jail's commissary. The gangs also made extra money by renting out cells and mattresses to prisoners.
Washington Post
29-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Trump's clemency spree extends to ex-gangster, artist, former congressmen
A gang leader who built a powerful criminal enterprise, an ex-congressman from New York who underreported earnings from his Manhattan restaurant and a Connecticut governor toppled in a corruption scandal all received clemency Wednesday in a sweeping series of orders signed by President Donald Trump. Trump extended relief to at least 11 people whose crimes spanned decades and included tax evasion and extortion, according to a White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss decisions not yet made public.
