Haiti Police arrest Episcopal Church accountant, accusing him of arms trafficking

The accountant of the Episcopal Church of Haiti, Jean Gilles Jean Mary, was detained and arrested by the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police, which linked him to a case of arms and ammunition trafficking in the port of this capital, the institution confirmed.

“Jean Gilles Jean Mary, the accountant of the Episcopal Church of Haiti, was questioned by the police on Tuesday, August 23, in connection with the case of trafficking of arms and ammunition at the dock by the National Port Authority (APN) involving the Church,” a note from the Police specified.

It adds that the arrest is justified by the existence of several documents signed by Jean Mary authorizing the seizure of funds from the account of the Episcopal Church to that of an international arms dealer, actively sought by the authorities.

He is the second member of the religious institution arrested by the authorities in connection with the seizure of some 20,000 cartridges of various calibers, approximately 100 magazines, and some 20 automatic weapons in mid-July.

The containers arrived in the name of the Episcopal Church, although the institution denied any involvement and suggested that criminal networks were using the entity to import weapons.

Also arrested as part of the investigation are an administrator who usually manages the deposits that arrived at Customs for the Episcopal Church and Robinson Pierre Louis, the secretary general of the Port-au-Prince Bar Association and former member of the Justice Minister’s cabinet.

In addition to the church scandal, authorities seized two other shipments in July coming from the port of Miami in the United States.

The recent seizures come amid a surge in violence by gangs operating in and around the capital and based in vulnerable neighborhoods.

Clashes between these groups left more than 470 people dead, wounded, or missing in the first days of July and another 188 dead in April, according to reports from the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti.

With information from Sputnik