HAITI · SECURITY
Key Facts
- Who Wilson Joseph, alias “Lanmò Sanjou”, leader of 400 Mawozo, a gang near Port-au-Prince, wrote to United Nations officials.
- Claim He blames Salvadoran bombings, including drone strikes, for over 100 deaths in Croix-des-Bouquets; one newspaper reports it.
- Status Nobody has independently verified the toll or the letter’s text; the claim is his alone.
- Ask He wants an independent UN mission and a review of night-time drone strikes.
A Haitian gang leader says drone strikes killed more than 100 people near the capital, a toll that nobody has confirmed.
Wilson Joseph, leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, asked the United Nations on Thursday 12 November 2026 to investigate drone strikes he says killed more than 100 people in Croix-des-Bouquets, a town near Port-au-Prince. In a letter dated 12 November to Secretary-General António Guterres, human rights chief Volker Türk and peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix, he blames Salvadoran troops, which El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele sent to Haiti and most of which operate outside the UN-backed force, and says more than 50 of those killed died at home at night.
One Dominican newspaper has reported the letter, and we could not obtain its full text. He says victims included people who took no part in the fighting, a claim that is his alone.
He asks for an independent mission, an impartial investigation, and a review of night strikes and of the oversight of the Gang Suppression Force, the UN-backed multinational force fighting gangs; he also wrote a letter dated 1 November.
What Is Not Known
The figures are Joseph’s alone, and no second source has confirmed the letter or its toll. After his 1 November letter, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on 2 November that receiving a letter does not mean endorsing it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Wilson Joseph?
He leads 400 Mawozo, a gang that operates around Croix-des-Bouquets near Port-au-Prince. The United States charged him in 2022 in connection with the October 2021 kidnapping of a group of 17 missionaries, 16 of them US citizens.
Is the death toll confirmed?
No. The figure of more than 100 comes only from Joseph’s letter, as reported by one Dominican newspaper, and has not been independently verified.
Sources: Letter of Wilson Joseph to the UN Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, dated 12 November 2026, as reported by one Dominican newspaper (full text not obtained); letter of 1 November 2026 and UN spokesperson’s response of 2 November; US Department of Justice, charges unsealed against Haitian gang leaders, 2022.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error
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