Police: Infamous gang leader killed after prison breakout

One of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders has been killed

Haiti Prison Outbreak (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

One of Haiti's most powerful gang leaders, Arnel Joseph, was killed on Friday, a day after he and dozens of other inmates in a prison breakout that left at least eight people dead, including the prison director, authorities said.

Police spokesman Gary Desrosiers told The Associated Press that Joseph was riding on a motorcycle through the Artibonite area in the town of L’Estère when he was spotted by a police checkpoint. He said Joseph pulled out a gun and exchanged gunfire with police. Desrosiers said the unidentified driver of the motorcycle was injured but fled.

Joseph ruled Village de Dieu, or Village of God, a shantytown in downtown Port-au-Prince and other communities, including some in Artibonite, which is Haiti’s largest department and located north of the capital. He had been Haiti’s most wanted fugitive until his arrest in 2019.

Some suspect the jailbreak was aimed at freeing Joseph, although authorities have not provided details about who organized the breakout or why. Residents who declined to be identified because they feared for their life told the AP that they saw gunmen shoot at prison guards on Thursday before inmates escaped from the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison in northeast Port-au-Prince.

It is unclear how many inmates escaped, although Desrosiers said at least 40 were recaptured.

The prison is known for a 2014 breakout in which more than 300 of the 899 inmates being held there at the time escaped.

President Jovenel Moïse said in a tweet that he condemned the jailbreak and asked the population to remain calm. He added that Haiti's National Police “is instructed to take all measures to bring the situation under control.”