Marine smuggled guns to Haiti so he could train military, become president, feds say
December 02, 2019 01:48 PM
An active-duty U.S. Marine was arrested last month when investigators say he landed in Haiti with boxes filled with guns, ammunition and body armor.
Federal prosecutors indicted Jacques Yves Sebastien Duroseau, a native of Haiti, in North Carolina last week on gun smuggling charges. Duroseau, described in the indictment as a military firearms instructor, reportedly told investigators he brought the eight guns to the Caribbean country to teach marksmanship to the Haitian army.
Investigators say Duroseau bought some of the guns in Jacksonville, near Camp Lejeune in Eastern North Carolina.
An unnamed “known individual” told federal investigators that Duroseau “wanted to help Haiti and wants to become President of Haiti,” according to the indictment filed Nov. 27.
The unnamed person helped Duroseau check in to fly to Haiti from an airport in New Bern, North Carolina, according to the indictment. Duroseau had three boxes with five handguns and three military-style rifles and ammunition, which he declared when he checked the luggage, according to the indictment.
Haitian officials told the Miami Herald “that they became suspicious when they saw the three black cases, two of which were long. Most often the cases mean guns are inside.”
Haitian police arrested Duroseau when he landed in the capital, Port-au-Prince, on Nov. 12, according to U.S. court filings.
Duroseau told investigators he “picked every gun” so he could teach Haitian soldiers how to shoot, according to the indictment. He said he knew that bringing guns and body armor into Haiti was illegal, the court filing said.
According to the indictment, the Marine told investigators that he planned to be arrested when he arrived in Haiti so he could “gain a platform to make a statement.”
“I know why I brought (the guns),” he told federal agents, according to the indictment. “It’s still a part of the attention I need.”
In an interview with Naval Criminal Investigative Services agents in Haiti, Duroseau said he wanted to help the Haitian people, according to the indictment. He told them he wanted to “wear the uniform of the military that’s been established” and “defeat the thugs that have been creating a little bit of part of the instability in Haiti,” the indictment said.
There is no attorney listed for Duroseau. Federal records show a warrant for his arrest has been sent to the U.S. Marshals Service.
The U.S. Marine Corps published a profile of Duroseau in 2016 that said he was in Haiti during the devastating 2010 earthquake and was trapped for four days before being rescued.
“It took me a while to find [my parents] because it was impossible to drive so you had to walk wherever you were going,” Duroseau said, according to the Marine Corps. “There’s a lot of stuff you wished you didn’t have to see. There were many dead and the smell was the worst. It was very sad to watch and experience.”
From a young age, Duroseau dreamed of becoming a U.S. Marine, according to the article.
“When I was a kid, I saw the marines back home [because] we had a little war going on, that was the first time I saw them and I hope to be one of them,” he was quoted as saying. “Since that day I had it in the back of my head where I wanted to be a U.S. Marine.
- Charles Duncan covers what’s happening right now across North and South Carolina, from breaking news to fun or interesting stories from across the region. He holds degrees from N.C. State University and Duke and lives two blocks from the ocean in Myrtle Beach.
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale’s Meetings in Haiti
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale met today in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with President Jovenel Moïse, Foreign Minister Bocchit Edmond, and other political leaders. They discussed the political crisis and urgent need for an inclusive dialogue among all parties. They discussed the dire economic situation in the country and the role of U.S. development and humanitarian assistance. Undersecretary Hale thanked the Haitian government for its leadership in restoring democracy in Venezuela. The United States calls on all Haitian leaders to come together without preconditions to end the political gridlock and form a government that will end the suffering of the Haitian people.
Jeanne L. Clark
Public Affairs Counselor
U.S. Embassy Haiti
(509)2229-8349
Haiti needs more than remittances, U.S. ambassador says, it needs investment
NOVEMBER 22, 2019 6:12 PM
According to the 2019 Global Hunger Index, Haiti suffers from serious hunger, ranking 111th out of 117 countries. The data shows that while the country had made substantial progress between 2005 and 2010 period, its ranking soon regressed.
Last month, the U.S. Agency for International Development agreed to grant an additional 2,000 metric tons of emergency food — rice, green peas and cooking oil — in Haiti through WFP. The agency said at the time, it made the decision after reviewing data showing that 3.67 million Haitians are facing either a crisis or emergency when it comes to accessing food,
Barreto, in the interview with the Herald, said he learned Friday that USAID will also provide WFP with $4 million to purchase food for next year’s hurricane season in Haiti.
Of the 3 million-plus Haitians facing a hunger crisis, Barreto said 1 million are at risk of experiencing high rates of acute malnutrition. The plan, he said, is to reach 70% of them, including individuals living in urban areas., something WFP has not done since the earthquake in 2010.
“They are really in a very bad situation,” he said.
But to accomplish any of this, the food program needs money, he stressed.
“We would like to prevent the situation from deteriorating further and create a hunger crisis in the country,” he said.
With the country experiencing a lull in the violence and protests of recent months, Barreto said they are trying to preposition food around the country and continue providing hot meals of rice and beans through its school feeding program, which feeds about 300,000 Haitian children with hot plates of rice and beans.
To help with logistics and get around road blocks, It recently commissioned a 24-seat UN helicopter.
On Friday, Barreto, who is based in Panama, traveled by helicopter to Gonaives, a city outside of the capital. Schools, he said, are still closed except for one lone school near the rural town of Gros Morne, where WFP is providing food. The school’s administrator said while other schools have been closed, they have managed to stay open for their 350 students since classes resumed in early September.