By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-08-05 00:57:01 | Updated at 2026-08-05 05:34:25
4 hours ago
A naturalized U.S. citizen and former Haitian National Police officer pleaded guilty to smuggling at least 140 firearms to Haiti.
Jean Robert Casimir, 53, of Lauderhill, Florida, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to conspiracy, smuggling, and violation of the Export Control Reform Act on Tuesday, Aug. 4.
According to court records, Casimir admitted to engaging in an extensive firearms trafficking operation since 2020.
He was arrested on Dec. 16, 2024, in Lauderhill and indicted on Jan. 23, 2025. His sentencing is set for Dec. 4.
Casimir told the court that from August 2020 through December 2024, he illegally exported guns from the United States to Haiti without the required license from the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security.
He told the court he purchased the guns for his security business, which hires off-duty Haitian National Police officers to provide armed security for people visiting the island.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Homeland Security investigators saw photographs of firearms used by Haitian gangs in which serial numbers were clearly visible. The affidavit stated that the guns were traced back to legal purchases Casimir made at a Florida gun store in 2020.
Casimir denied selling guns to gang members. He said the guns were stolen from one of his employees during a robbery.
To smuggle the firearms, Casimir and his co-conspirators disassembled the guns, encased them in a foam insulating material and sealed them in industrial air compressors they had cut open and welded back together. They shipped the air compressors to Haiti from Miami.
Armed off-duty police officers take cover during an exchange of gunfire with army soldiers as they protest over police pay and working conditions in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Feb. 23, 2020. Dieu Nalio Chery/Ap Photo
The investigation was a combined effort by the FBI Miami Field Office, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., and HSI Miami with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The case is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorneys from the District of Columbia and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) National Security Division, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
According to a DOJ press release, the case is part of a Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative to eliminate criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad.
“Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations,” the press release states.
According to data released by the United Nations Human Rights Office, there are an estimated 270,000 to 500,000 illegal weapons in circulation in Haiti, even though country does not manufacture guns or ammunition.
Haiti has been overrun by armed gangs and vigilante groups for more than a decade.
Political corruption and natural disasters have destabilized the country. As the government struggled to deal with the crises, powerful gangs took control of various areas, including the capital, Port au Prince.
In 2024 alone, more than 5,600 people were killed due to gang-related activity, according to the UN.
