Haitian police killed Kendy, alias ‘Jeff Mafia’, considered ‘number two’ of the gang led by Jimmy Chérizier, known as ‘Barbacue’, on Sunday in an operation carried out in the Fort National neighbourhood, located in the south of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, in the context of the wave of violence that has been affecting the Caribbean country for months.
The deputy spokesman for the Haitian National Police, Lionel Lazarre, explained that ‘Jeff Mafia’ was shot dead when he was preparing with other gang members to lead a new offensive against the Delmas 19 district. The other gang members were also killed in the operation by the security forces, according to the newspaper ‘Gazette Haiti’.
Following the police actions, automatic gunfire was heard in several parts of the capital, notably in Nazon, Poste Marchand and Poupelard. In addition, several people were injured when gang members set fire to houses and a church, leading to new movements of displaced people.
Lazarre assured that the National Police is continuing its operations against the actions of the bandits and reiterated the determination of the agents to intensify operations and interventions on different fronts to neutralize the armed gangs.
Haiti has not had a president since early July 2021, when a group of armed individuals broke into his official residence and assassinated Jovenel Moise. Shortly afterwards, Ariel Henry rose to the post of prime minister amid criticism and after several years of instability. In March of this year, he resigned following the wave of violence that shook the nation.
A Transitional Presidential Council has since been set up to carry out the peace process and to create a Provisional Electoral Council to organise the first elections in a decade. The country is supported by an international police contingent led by Kenya, which has so far been ineffective in curbing gang activity.
