Overview:
The United Nations Panel of Experts on Haiti has accused former Northern senator Jean-Charles Moïse of controlling much of Haiti’s lucrative glass eel trade and leading an illicit export network linked to broader Caribbean smuggling operations. In a report to the U.N. Security Council, the panel said Moïse exercises political and economic influence over the sector, including issuing export permits and overseeing customs. The investigation also identified alleged links among Haitian suppliers, customs officials and Dominican boat owners involved in moving glass eels out of Haiti.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — A United Nations group has accused former Haitian Senator Jean-Charles Moïse of exercising significant political and economic control over the country’s lucrative glass eel trade and leading an illicit export network linked to broader smuggling operations across the Caribbean.
In a September report to the UN Security Council, shared on Wednesday by the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), the UN Panel of Experts on Haiti said Moïse’s network influences the issuance of glass eel export permits, customs oversight and other parts of the supply chain, from harvesting to commercialization.
The experts said their findings were based on investigations conducted between October 2025 and July 2026, including missions in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Miami. The report covers investigations through July 10.
“Through his activities, Moïse contributes to the weakening of the Haitian economy while facilitating regional criminal smuggling networks,” the panel said.
The findings from the panel validate earlier accounts regarding the former senator’s role in contraband eel operations.
In June 2025, the Haitian Network of Anti-Corruption Journalists (RHAJAC) publicly accused Moïse and several other figures of exercising influence over the glass eel sector. In July 2025, RHAJAC urged United Nations investigators to release a “list of criminals involved in the eel trade” in Haiti.
A lucrative but poorly regulated trade
Glass eels — young American eels also known in Haiti as zangi or tizangi — are among the country’s most valuable natural resources. The U.N. panel said a kilogram can sell for $3,000 to $5,000 on international markets, while Haitian fishermen receive between 34 cents and $1.70 per kilogram for their precious trade, highlighting the enormous gap between what Haitians make and the prices paid farther along the international supply chain.
That disparity has helped make glass eel fishing an increasingly important source of income for coastal communities while attracting criminal and politically connected networks.
According to customs data reported by Ayibopost, Haiti exported more than 173,500 tons of eel worth nearly $13 million in 2022–2023, up 45% from the year before, largely to Asian markets. This does not include illicit exports by smugglers. No reports beyond 2023 have been made available.
Haiti’s fishing season runs from September through March. The Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR) issues export permits annually.
The international experts described the sector as poorly regulated, opaque and vulnerable to corruption. Haiti is not a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which the report said leaves the trade more prone to illicit activity. The report also added that the absence of a functioning Parliament prevents Haiti from completing the process needed to accede to the convention.
The sector has also faced allegations involving the National Association for the Protection of Aquatic Resources (ANAPRA), an association of licensed exporters. Previous reporting by AyiboPost found that Haiti’s government issued a relatively small number of export licenses and that ANAPRA members dominated the licensed trade. The association has rejected allegations of illicit activity.
International demand for American eel has grown sharply in recent years, particularly in East Asia. Research published in Marine Policy found that Hong Kong imported 100.6 metric tons of live eel fry from Haiti in 2022, making Haiti a major source of glass eels entering the Asian market, including notably in China and Japan.
Panel alleges control over permits and customs and a network extending beyond Haiti
The U.N. panel said sources told investigators that Moïse’s network helps determine who works in the government office that issues glass eel export permits.
The report also said Moïse exerts political and economic influence over the glass eel sector and the ministry responsible for issuing export permits, as well as customs officials who oversee exports.
The panel further alleged that Moïse pressured some customs officials to facilitate tax fraud and that officials who refused his demands were transferred.
Some former associates who were denied permits later became competitors, according to the report.
The panel said it based those findings on interviews with confidential sources, government officials, former exporters and others familiar with the sector.
Moïse did not respond to The Haitian Times’ request for comment on the U.N. experts’ statements about him.
The panel said its investigation found that Moïse’s alleged network extends into the Dominican Republic and other parts of the Caribbean.
During the 2024-25 fishing season, investigators spoke with one of Moïse’s former glass eel suppliers, a boat owner and a glass eel trader based in the Dominican Republic. According to the report, they described how the network continued moving glass eels out of Haiti after the Federal Aviation Administration suspended flights between Port-au-Prince and the United States.
The panel said Moïse instead mobilized a network in northern Haiti involving Haitian customs officials and Dominican boat owners. The boats allegedly provided transportation for glass eels leaving Haiti.
The report also alleges that Moïse’s network combined glass eels obtained from illicit suppliers in Haiti and elsewhere in the region before exporting them as exclusively Haitian in origin.
In June 2026, customs authorities in an unnamed U.N. member state told the panel they had confirmed two cases of live glass eel smuggling between October and December 2024. The shipments lacked required export and customs documentation, according to the report.
The panel said its investigation indicated that the two cases were part of a broader series of exports linked to Moïse’s network during the 2024-25 fishing season.
The glass eel investigation is one part of the panel’s broader examination of illicit financial flows, organized crime and political influence in Haiti.
Aside from Moïse, the report also names other political figures in connection with alleged corruption, gang financing and other activities. It said the country’s weak institutions and limited regulatory capacity continue to create opportunities for illicit networks.
For a resource that can command thousands of dollars per kilogram on international markets while fishermen receive less than $2 per kilogram, the findings highlight both the economic value of Haiti’s natural resources and the challenges the country faces in ensuring that those resources generate legitimate revenue for the state and coastal communities.
