The gangs control 90% of the capital of Haiti as violence spreads, UN officials warn

The criminal gangs of Haiti exercised an “almost total control” over the capital, while the escalation of violence pushes the Caribbean nation “closer to the edge”, warned senior officials of the UN on Wednesday.

The gangs control approximately 90% of Port-au-Prince, Ghada Fathy Waly, executive director of the United Nations Drugs and Crime, told the United Nations Security Council. Waly noted that gangs are developing in previously peaceful areas.

“The southern Haiti, which was until recently isolated from violence, experienced a sharp increase in gang’s incidents,” she said. “And in the east, criminal groups exploit land routes, including key crossings like Belladere and Malpass, where attacks on police and customs agents have been reported.”

The UN deputy secretary general, Miroslav Jenca, informed the Council that “the encirclement of the gangs during Port-au-Prince” and from their reinforced point of view in the capital and beyond is “to bring the situation closer to the edge”.

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The security guards are watching the Prime Minister of Haiti, Alix Didier Son-Aime, Center, speaks with the charge of Mexico, Jesus Cisneros, after having attended a marking event a year since the start of the multinational security support mission in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (AP photo / Odelyn Joseph)

“Without an increased action of the international community, the total collapse of the presence of the state in the capital could become a very real scenario,” he warned.

The gangs have taken power since the assassination of President Jenel Moïse in July 2021, previously controlled 85% of the capital. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination.

An armed member of the G9 and the gang family patrols a roadblock in the Delmas 6 district of Port-au-Prince, in Haiti, March 11. (AP photo / Odelyn Joseph)

A new United Nations report covering last October to February stresses that the gangs exploited political disorders and that the disorganized security response from Haiti, affirming that competing political ambitions and allegations of corruption within the transitional guidelines have embarrassed action.

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“While the expansion of territorial control brings additional sources of income and negotiation power,” said United Nations experts in the report, “these attacks are also supported by individuals trying to destabilize the political transition for their own political objectives.”

The police patrolled in a district in the midst of violence linked to gangs in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, April 25, 2023. (Richard Pierrin / AFP via Getty Images)

The American State Department published a travel notice in Haiti in September 2024, warning the Americans against the visit due to the removal, crime, civil disorders and limited health care.

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In May, the Trump administration appointed two of the most powerful gang networks in Haiti, VIV Ansanm and Gran Grif, as a specially designated foreign terrorist and terrorist organizations.

The Jasmine Baehr of Fox News Digital and the Associated Press contributed to this report.