‘One less gang leader’: Haiti’s prime minister celebrates police operation

Haiti’s National Police (PNH) has confirmed that a gang leader known as Mathias Saintil was “neutralised” as part of a recent law enforcement operation. In a social media post shared on Friday, officials described Saintil as the leader of the Boston gang, named for a neighbourhood in Cite Soleil, an impoverished part of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Saintil was reportedly struck by “multiple bullets” during a law enforcement operation, and a police source said he died later in the hospital.

“One less gang leader,” he wrote in a mix of French and Haitian Creole. “The battle to liberate the country from the grip of bandits continues with determination. The gangs won’t be able to sleep!” Haiti has struggled with a surge in gang violence for years, most notably after the assassination of then-President Jovenel Moise in 2021.

The assassination left the country in crisis, and no national elections have been held in the years since. Amid the political turmoil, organised crime in Haiti sought to expand its influence, claiming large swaths of territory.