Jimmy Chérizier, one of Haiti’s most notorious gang leaders, has publicly taunted U.S. authorities after being indicted for allegedly violating sanctions and financing gang operations.
In a video statement, the Viv Ansanm gang alliance leader – widely known as “Barbecue” – declared, “My name is Jimmy Chérizier, BBQ. If the FBI wants me, I’m here.” The defiance came hours after the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed charges accusing Chérizier and a U.S. citizen, Bazile Richardson, of running a conspiracy to channel money from the Haitian diaspora to fund gang violence.
Chérizier was designated a foreign terrorist by Washington in May, and the U.S. State Department has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. “Chérizier’s reign of terror and mass violence against Haiti must come to an end,” said senior State Department official Chris Landberg. Critics, however, question the bounty’s usefulness given that Chérizier is not in hiding.
Prosecutors allege that Richardson, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Haiti now living in Fayetteville, North Carolina, grew up with Chérizier and helped arrange transfers from Haitian expatriates to pay gang members and purchase weapons from illegal dealers. Most firearms in Haiti are smuggled from the United States, where gun trafficking to the island is an enduring problem. Chérizier has denied Richardson’s involvement.
The indictment lands amid deepening chaos in Haiti, where armed groups control much of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Chérizier’s coalition has played a central role in the violence, which has displaced hundreds of thousands and paralyzed state institutions.
With no extradition treaty between Haiti and the U.S., it is unclear how American authorities could apprehend Chérizier. His open defiance highlights the difficulties Haitian and international actors face in dismantling the networks sustaining gang dominance, a crisis intertwined with transnational money flows and weapons trafficking.