Haiti Says Gang Boss Mathias Saintil Is Dead

HAITI · GANG VIOLENCE

Haiti’s Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé said on Friday 6 November that Mathias Saintil, a leader of the Boston gang in Cité Soleil, is dead. Police confirmed the death, but accounts differ on whether a drone strike or gunfire killed him.

Haiti’s prime minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, announced on social media on Friday 6 November that gang leader Mathias Saintil is dead. “One less gang leader,” he wrote in French and Haitian Creole, adding that the fight to free the country from the grip of bandits continues.

Saintil led the Boston gang, named for a neighbourhood of Cité Soleil, an impoverished district of the capital, Port-au-Prince. For US readers the news matters because Washington designated the Viv Ansanm gang alliance, which local reports say he belonged to, a Foreign Terrorist Organization in May 2025.

What Is Confirmed About Saintil

Haiti’s National Police, known by its French initials PNH, said in a social media post on Friday that Saintil was “neutralised” in a law enforcement operation. The post named him as the leader of the Boston gang.

Haitian authorities confirmed his death on Friday after the prime minister’s post. The accounts agree that he died after the operation, but they differ on the weapon.

A report by the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights, a Haitian rights group known as RNDDH, says he suffered serious abdominal wounds in a drone strike in Boston on Thursday night. It says he died the next day while receiving treatment.

Local reports also published a photograph of the vehicle Saintil was in and describe a drone strike. A police source gave a different version, saying he was hit by multiple bullets in the operation and died later in hospital.

What Viv Ansanm Is

The US State Department says Viv Ansanm formed in September 2023 through an alliance between the two main gang factions of Port-au-Prince, G-9 and G-Pèp. It says the alliance has carried out coordinated attacks on prisons, government buildings and the capital’s international airport.

The department designated Viv Ansanm and a second gang, Gran Grif, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, in a notice published in the US Federal Register on 5 May 2025. It said the designations may support actions by US law enforcement and partner governments.

The Wider Security Push

About 2,000 Salvadoran troops have deployed to Haiti since last month, after four Salvadoran members of the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force went missing in an ambush on 18 October. Our report on that search is at Haiti Finds Burned Vehicle of 4 Salvadorans.

The UN Security Council voted on 29 September to extend the Gang Suppression Force until 31 March 2027, with China, Russia and Pakistan abstaining. The US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, said about 1,500 troops of the force were then deployed in Haiti.

The prime minister’s government says it is pushing to restore stability before elections that have been delayed. The UN counts at least 26 gangs operating in and around the capital.

What It Means for US Readers

Haiti’s gang violence feeds the migration and security concerns that reach the United States, and Washington has both listed Viv Ansanm as a terrorist group and backed the UN force. A leader’s death can weaken one gang in one district, but the number of gangs around the capital means control of territory is not settled by one killing.

For background, see Who Holds Real Power in Haiti and Haiti History Explained, From Independence to the Vote. Readers following the force can also read the US airlift for the Gang Suppression Force.

What Is Not Known

How Saintil died is disputed between a drone strike and gunfire. The Haitian National Police and the prime minister’s office can answer when they publish a full account of the operation.

Whether the Boston gang will keep operating under a new leader is not known. The Haitian National Police and the UN’s integrated office in Haiti can answer in their next security reports.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Mathias Saintil?

He was the leader of the Boston gang, named for a neighbourhood of Cité Soleil in Port-au-Prince. The prime minister announced his death on Friday 6 November.

How did Saintil die?

Accounts differ. A Haitian rights group and local reports describe a drone strike on Thursday night, while a police source says he was hit by bullets in an operation and died in hospital.

What is Viv Ansanm?

It is an alliance of Haitian gangs formed in September 2023, according to the US State Department. Washington designated it a Foreign Terrorist Organization in May 2025.

Has the Haitian government confirmed his death?

Yes, the prime minister announced it on social media, and the national police described Saintil as neutralised. Neither has published a full account of how he died.

Does this change anything for the United States?

The US lists Viv Ansanm as a terrorist group and backs the UN-authorised Gang Suppression Force. One leader’s death does not end gang control, since the UN counts at least 26 gangs near the capital.

Sources: Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and Haiti’s National Police (PNH), social media posts of 6 November 2026; US Department of State, statement of 2 May 2025 on the designation of Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif; Federal Register, Foreign Terrorist Organization Designations of Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif, 5 May 2025; Haitian National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) report of 6 November 2026; UN Security Council vote of 29 September 2026 (accessed 7 November 2026).