Screenshots of videos posted on social media by Wilson Joseph, alias "Lanmo San Jou", leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, showing .50 caliber ammunition with a distinctive yellow tip.
By Yudelka Dominguez, Listin Dario, Oct. 8, 2026
Several types of ammunition used by the Haitian gang 400 Mawozo and other criminal groups in Bel-Air, a neighborhood located in Port-au-Prince, used ammunition from the Dominican national reserves , belonging to the National Police and the Army.
This is according to a report by the Panel of Experts to the Haitian Security Council Committee . The report states that the ammunition was diverted by “corrupt agents of the Dominican police and armed forces.”
The commission determined that 908,001 units were diverted from the National Police .
The report was submitted on 24 July 2026 to the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2653 (2022) concerning Haiti, which considered it on 3 September 2026.
The group contained more than 489,000 9mm cartridges ; 230,000 5.56 x 45mm cartridges and 26,000 7.62 x 39mm cartridges, as well as 93,000 shotgun cartridges of various calibers.
“The Group shared the information with the Dominican authorities, who took an inventory of the police reserves and arrested several agents,” the report states, without specifying how many agents and their names.
These munitions were allegedly sold in border areas.
“While it is difficult to accurately estimate the amount of material that arrived in Haiti , some Dominican security experts explained to the Expert Group that, given that the market for 5.56 x 45 mm and 7.62 x 39 mm caliber ammunition in the Dominican Republic is quite limited, it is likely that most of this material was transferred to Haiti , as these are the two main calibers used by the gangs,” they explain.
Armed forces
Regarding the ammunition allegedly trafficked by members of the Armed Forces, they highlight that in that entity, the brands with the initials "ERD" (Army of the Dominican Republic).
Some of these munitions were identified in material seized in February of this year.
Another example occurred in December 2025, when Dominican authorities arrested an ERD lieutenant in San Juan de la Maguana , along with a Haitian citizen , while they were traveling on a motorcycle with 1,516 cartridges.
The ammunition used was acquired in 2022.
They explain that Wilson Joseph, alias "Lanmo San Jou", leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, posted videos on social media showing .50 caliber ammunition with distinctive characteristics that the Expert Group had identified as being manufactured in the Dominican Republic in the 1950s.
“The analysis of .50 caliber cartridges seized from the gang in 2026 has confirmed this fact, since at least 15 of the 32 cartridges documented by the Expert Group were manufactured in the Dominican Republic,” they state.
“The Expert Group sent two tracing requests to the Dominican authorities. They provided photographs of ammunition manufactured by the San Cristóbal Armed Forces Armory between the 1950s and 1960s , and explained that the surplus ammunition was in the process of being destroyed and that they had not detected any discrepancies,” they continued.
Data
It is recalled that in October 2024, the National Police reported that members of that entity formed a network dedicated to extracting ammunition from its depots, in order to sell it privately.
Those on trial in this case are Colonel Narciso Antonio Féliz Romero , former head of the National Police's Weapons Department; and Captain Nelson Valdez , who directed the Weapons, Ammunition and Equipment Depot of the police force.
In addition, Víctor Manuel Santos Rodríguez , Juan Luis Díaz Medina, Ángel Rubiel Martínez Bacilio and Morelbin Medina Pérez.
Also, Marino Antonio Rodríguez Toribio , who was sentenced to five years in prison under house arrest, and the company Tactical Accessories RH, SRL was permanently closed.
Posted Oct. 19, 2026