The United States is now offering a $3 million reward and relocation for information targeting the financial networks of Haiti’s most powerful gangs, a strategic pivot that signals Washington’s recognition that killing or capturing individual gang leaders has failed to dismantle the sprawling criminal enterprise strangling the Caribbean nation. The Rewards for Justice program, operating under the State Department, issued the rare appeal Wednesday, seeking whistleblowers who can expose the money pipelines fueling the Viv Ansanm coalition and Gran Grif, both of which were designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by Secretary of State Marco Rubio last year.
While the designation carried rhetorical weight, the armed groups have continued to collect millions in extortion fees from toll roads and strategic corridors leading to seaports and the border with the Dominican Republic, expanding territorial control even as foreign forces cycle in and out of the country. The bounty marks a tacit admission that previous tactics, from targeting individual gang leaders, to deploying Kenyan-led police units, and promising a new "Gang Suppression Force," have failed to stem the violence that has displaced 1.45 million Haitians and pushed the nation deeper into hunger and lawlessness.
Key points:
- U.S. offers up to $3 million and relocation for financial intelligence on Haiti’s Viv Ansanm gang coalition and Gran Grif
- Both groups designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations in 2024 under Secretary Marco Rubio
- Gangs control key roads, ports, and border crossings, collecting millions in extortion
- Violence has displaced 1.45 million people internally, with 20,000 reported killed since 2021
- U.N. reports gangs expanding from capital into central Haiti, targeting rural Artibonite region
- Kenya-led police force is drawing down as U.S.-backed Gang Suppression Force prepares to deploy
- Mercy Corps survey finds 99% of displaced have no income, 95% feel unsafe in camps
- Shift in U.S. strategy moves from targeting individual leaders to dismantling financial networks
A fortress built on extortion and blood
The Viv Ansanm coalition, an alliance of hundreds of gangs once loosely aligned, has consolidated control over Port-au-Prince’s outskirts and pushed into central Haiti with stunning speed. According to a report published this week by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner, gang members seized the localities of Saut-d’Eau and Mirebalais over the past year, displacing entire populations and entrenching themselves despite security operations occasionally supported by self-defense groups. “Despite security operations, at times supported by self-defense groups, gangs remained entrenched in the area, launching further attacks to expand eastward, toward Lascahobas,” the report stated.
In the Artibonite valley, where Gran Grif operates in the lower parts of the rice-growing region, gang attacks have multiplied. The U.N. noted that in September 2025, the communes of Arcahaie and Cabaret (located north of the capital and bordering Artibonite) were targeted. While police repelled those specific attacks, they revealed the growing risk of expansion toward Saint Marc, home to one of the country’s principal ports. Gran Grif has also been tied to theft of crops and livestock, contributing directly to Haiti’s status as one of the world’s top hunger hot-spots.
The financial architecture sustaining these groups has evolved. Once dependent on sponsorship from Haiti’s elite, gangs have grown more economically independent as they cemented control over strategic infrastructure. They now collect funds through extortion at road checkpoints, thousands of ransom kidnappings, arms and drug trafficking, hijackings, and, according to U.N. reports, organ trafficking and theft of vehicles, buildings, and crops. Most gang killings are the result of firearms brought illegally into the country, with many believed to come through U.S. ports in Florida and Georgia, according to the United Nations.
Humanitarian collapse as foreign forces shift
The human toll has reached catastrophic proportions. The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration recently reported that 1.45 million Haitians are now internally displaced, with more than 400,000 displaced in the past year alone. On Wednesday, Mercy Corps released an analysis showing that 95.6% of respondents in displacement camps do not feel safe inside their shelters, and three in 10 women reported experiencing physical or sexual violence within the sites.
“Nearly all respondents report suffering economic collapse after their displacement (99.1% have no income) and now face severe food deprivation (96.5% of women and 87.5% of children eat fewer than two meals a day),” the nonprofit said. Less than half had access to a functioning toilet, and only a third of children were attending school.
Laurent Uwumuremyi, Mercy Corps’ country director for Haiti, described the situation as an impossible calculus for families. “When people cannot meet their basic needs or see a path forward, the impacts do not stay contained; they ripple outward, affecting stability far beyond any one community,” she said. “At a time when global attention and funding are stretched, it is critical that Haiti is not overlooked.”
The shifting international security presence adds another layer of uncertainty. More than 200 police officers from Kenya, along with military personnel from Jamaica and The Bahamas, recently departed as part of the drawdown of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission. The mission is transitioning into the U.S.-backed Gang Suppression Force, with El Salvador and Guatemala expected to remain among the 5,500-strong personnel. El Salvador is anticipated to deploy helicopters for operations.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince sought to reassure Haitians that joint operations would continue despite the Kenyan departure. “The United States will continue supporting the Haitian National Police.... We stand with the Haitian people in their aspirations for a safer, more prosperous country,” the embassy said. In a statement, embassy officials added, "Terrorist gangs continue to cause suffering to Haitian communities, exploit women and children, and coerce boys and girls into a life of violence. They use women and children as human shields every day. Even one civilian death is too many. Gang brutality is indefensible, and they will never be seen as heroes or revolutionaries."
Whether the new reward strategy (aimed at financial facilitators rather than front-line fighters) can crack the gang strongholds remains an open question. Previous bounties focused on individual gang leaders have yielded no major arrests. The $3 million offer now extends to those who can expose how the money moves, a recognition that the lifelines of terror run through bank accounts and border crossings as much as through the barrels of smuggled firearms.
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