U.S. reports a spike in weapons smuggling from Florida to Haiti 

Authorities reported on Wednesday a spike in weapons smuggling from Florida to Haiti and the Caribbean in recent months, as gang violence in Haiti spreads throughout the country. 

Along with the announcement, authorities promised to boost efforts to combat the illegal trade that is fueling the recent violence in Haiti. Other Caribbean countries, such as The Bahamas and Jamaica are also experiencing an increase in gun-related homicides. 

"Not only have we seen a marked uptick in the number of weapons, but a serious increase in the caliber and type of firearms being illegally trafficked," said Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Miami.

Some of the weapons that authorities recently seized include a .50 caliber sniper rifle—usually used by military snipers—and other machine guns that are not usually encountered. 

"We have been ramping up our efforts to stem the flow of illicit weapons into Haiti and the Caribbean," he added. 

Haiti is subject to an arms embargo placed in the 1990s, in which only a small number of people can acquire exported weapons on the island, such as security forces. However, more and more guns are being seen in the country. 

The guns being brought into Haiti and other parts of the Caribbean are frequently purchased in the U.S. through straw buyers—people who identify themselves as the users of the gun but illegally export them instead. 

Last month, authorities discovered weapons in a shipping container sent from the U.S. labeled as church donations. Haiti’s customs agency seized 18 “weapons of war,” four handguns, and almost 15,000 rounds of ammunition. 

On Wednesday, Haitian police arrested a priest with the Episcopal Church of Haiti, Frantz Cole, in connection to the weapons smuggling.  

“It’s incredibly disturbing,” Salisbury said. “In the wrong hands, these weapons are capable of causing a vast amount of destruction.

Haiti has been plagued with gang violence since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated last year, leaving a political vacuum and non-ending turf wars by gangs seeking to gain control of more territory. 

Gang violence and shootings in Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince left hundreds dead and many others wounded. With the increased violence has come a rise in kidnappings, murders, and rapes, as well as shootouts and fires that have caused many to become displaced.