by Brian Ellsworth
(Reuters) – In October, as Haiti’s gang-driven humanitarian crisis worsened, a group of looters ransacked a supermarket in an affluent suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince, prompting police to arrest more of a dozen people and take them to a nearby police station.
They didn’t stay there long.
In the space of a few hours, the police station in the Thomassin district was the target of a hail of bullets fired by members of a gang led by a certain Carlo Petithomme, whose brother was among those arrested, according to two source of security.
Carlo Petithomme, better known as Ti Makak, leads the gang of the same name. Its members subdued the officers and freed the looters along with other detainees who had been previously arrested, the sources said.
Reuters was unable to contact Carlo Petithomme for security reasons.
The audacious attack on October 10, first reported in detail here, shocked residents of this area which had been largely spared by Haitian gangs, one of which is causing a humanitarian crisis after blocked the fuel supply.
Although Ti Makak is not directly linked to the blockage of fuel distribution, his rise demonstrates the ability of Haitian gangs to quickly transform from criminal gangs to powerful warlords capable of undermining the state of right, even in the most stable parts of the country.
This is further evidence of how gangs have extended their power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, and of the difficulties Prime Minister Ariel Henry faces in restoring order in the country.
Most of the gangs first emerged in the slums near the capital, but residents and traders left these areas in response, according to James Boyard, a security expert and professor of international relations at the State University of ‘Haiti.
“In an effort to gain access to new sources of revenue, gangs are now looking to move into what were once ‘green zones’, to carry out kidnappings and extortion,” added James Boyard.
The country is now held hostage by a federation of gangs called G9 and led by Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, a former police officer who in September began blockading the Varreux oil terminal, an action he described as a protest against a plan to cut fuel subsidies.
Many locals, as well as a growing number of American policymakers, believe that wealthy Haitians fund gangs to serve their own economic interests.
The blockade has left Haiti without fuel, triggering shortages of food and drinking water, just as the country is facing a cholera outbreak. The United Nations has considered creating an intervention force to lift the blockade and resume fuel distribution, but it is not yet clear who would lead it.
The last major foreign military force to intervene on the island, a UN mission known as Minustah, was deeply unpopular when it ended in 2017 after 13 years of presence, due to credible evidence that its troops caused a cholera epidemic in 2010, as well as accusations of sexual abuse of young girls.
The gangs are also deeply entrenched in the civilian population, which means that a conventional military operation would risk causing significant civilian casualties.
The Haiti National Police did not respond to requests for comment on the incident at the police station or on Ti Makak in general.
“THREATS ARE NOT IN VAIN”
According to locals and security experts, Ti Makak now has a strong hold on Laboule, an area of steep, green hills south of Port-au-Prince.
Since the 1990s, Laboule has been populated by wealthy families drawn to the fresh air and scenic views, some of whom have built luxury mansions and villas. Laboule’s sub-districts are delineated by numbers, and a significant increase in gang activity has been seen in Laboule 12. Its streets, which for years teemed with drivers, vendors and customers, are increasingly emptier.
In 2021, when gangs took control of the main road leading from Port-au-Prince to Haiti’s southern peninsula, drivers began taking Laboule as an alternate route.
The first activities of Ti Makak are difficult to date.
The group began to draw attention to itself after a policeman was killed during an anti-gang operation in January in Laboule 12. Local media reported that Ti Makak was responsible.
Around the middle of the year, a local entrepreneur began to receive calls from unidentified men asking him to hand over some of his shop’s goods at the request of a man who was given bombastic titles like “Commander “.
The entrepreneur, who, for security reasons, asked that neither he nor the specific nature of his activity be identified, initially thought that the calls were coming from neighborhood bosses claiming to have links with groups criminals.
But the calls continued, he said, and a group later showed up claiming to be linked to Ti Makak. They became agitated when their requests for goods and cash payments were denied.
The company has now greatly reduced its activities due to repeated threats over several months, as well as the general situation in the country, the entrepreneur said.
“There is nothing that can stop them unless God or the angels change their minds,” he said. “If they come, they come. In Haiti, threats are not in vain.”
LAND DISPUTES
Carlo Petithomme has remained relatively low-key compared to other gang leaders like Jimmy Chérizier, who likes to appear in public in bespoke suits and has even invited foreign correspondents to press conferences.
In an interview aired by a little-known YouTube channel called RL Media Pro, a man wearing a cowboy hat and a bandana over his face, who identified himself as Ti Makak, was asked about the police station attack. by Thomassin.
He did not respond to questions relating directly to the storming of the police station, instead describing the day’s events as an effort to protect peaceful protesters from police attacks.
“I’m not going to lie to you, if I wasn’t quick (to protect) my guys, the majority of my guys would have been victims,” the man said, without elaborating.
Carlo Petithomme has said in the past that his family is from Laboule 12 and that the farmers’ land was grabbed by a man named Jean Mossanto Petit, a Haitian entrepreneur who for decades ran a successful lottery business and owns land in the region.
Reuters was unable to obtain comment from Jean Mossanto Petit.
Property rights disputes, a chronic problem dating back to Haiti’s independence in 1804, led to bloody clashes near Laboule 12 in 2021, according to Fenel Pélissier, a journalist who published an investigation into the conflict for the Haitian online media Ayibo Post.
“(Carlo Petithomme) did not live in the area, but he returned when he learned that people who lived there had sold land to (Jean Mossanto Petit),” said Fenel Pélissier, who spoke with residents of the area, but added that it was unclear whether any land deals actually took place.
Fenel Pélissier said an official told him around 60 people had been killed and 100 houses burned down since the conflict began in 2021.
According to Ricardo Germain, an independent security consultant, Ti Makak’s rhetorical support for the poor indicates that the group is, like many Haitian gangs, seeking to win over a population suffering from a serious crisis.
“We can easily conclude that the Ti Makak gang, by acting in this way, seeks to win the hearts of the population, in particular those who participated in acts of looting during the last demonstrations,” said Ricardo Germain.
(Report Brian Ellsworth in Miami, French version Augustin Turpin, edited by Kate Entringer)