The United States (U.S.) and the United Nations (U.N.) on Friday announced sanctions against two prominent Haitian figures accused of backing Haiti’s most powerful gang coalition, Viv Ansanm, in actions that have deepened the country’s ongoing security crisis.

The U.S. Treasury Department said the sanctions target Dimitri Hérard, the former head of presidential security under late President Jovenel Moïse, and Kempes Sanon, leader of the Bel Air gang in Port-au-Prince. Hours later, the U.N. Security Council unanimously passed a resolution reinforcing the measures, ordering all 193 member nations to freeze the men’s assets, impose a travel ban, and enforce an arms embargo.

The U.S. and U.N. accuse both men of providing material and logistical support to Viv Ansanm, a loose federation of criminal groups responsible for much of the violence and lawlessness gripping the capital. Hérard, a former police officer who was jailed in connection with Moïse’s 2021 assassination, reportedly escaped custody in 2024 and “colluded” with the gang alliance, according to the Treasury Department.

“Hérard directly backs Viv Ansanm’s coordinated attacks against state institutions,” the Treasury’s statement said. The department added that he supplied firearms and training to gang leaders operating across Port-au-Prince.

Sanon, meanwhile, is accused of using his influence within Bel Air—a stronghold in the heart of the capital—to extort residents, kidnap civilians, and impose illegal taxes. The U.N. described him as maintaining “a network of individuals within governmental institutions, including security agencies, which enables him to evade arrest and continue his criminal activities.” Sanon also escaped from prison in 2021, where he had been detained for kidnapping and theft, according to the U.N. resolution.

Bradley T. Smith, director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in a statement that the sanctions “underscore the critical role of gang leaders and facilitators like Hérard and Sanon, whose support enables Viv Ansanm’s campaign of violence, extortion, and terrorism in Haiti.”

Gangs now control roughly 90% of Port-au-Prince, according to U.N. estimates, and have expanded their activities—including looting, sexual assaults, and kidnappings, into rural regions. The country has been without an elected president since Moïse’s assassination, and institutions remain largely paralyzed despite the establishment of a Transitional Presidential Council earlier this year.

The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime has also reported that weapons trafficked largely from the United States, especially Florida, continue to arm Haitian gangs. Hérard is accused of facilitating the smuggling of arms and ammunition into the country, further fueling the violence.

International observers say the sanctions represent a growing willingness by global powers to confront Haiti’s gang crisis through financial and diplomatic means, but many in the Haitian diaspora argue that real progress will require accountability within Haiti’s political and policing systems, long accused of corruption and complicity.

What is Viv Ansanm?

Viv Ansanm, Creole for “Live Together”, is a powerful alliance of armed groups that emerged in 2023, uniting some of Haiti’s most notorious gangs under one loose coalition. The group controls large sections of Port-au-Prince, including neighborhoods such as Bel Air, Cité Soleil, and Carrefour-Feuilles, as well as key roadways connecting the capital to the rest of the country.

The coalition operates with the stated goal of opposing Haiti’s political elite and foreign intervention, but in practice, it has become a criminal syndicate engaged in kidnapping, extortion, and violent attacks against police and civilians. The alliance is largely blamed for the wave of coordinated assaults that paralyzed Port-au-Prince in early 2024 and displaced tens of thousands of residents.

According to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, Viv Ansanm’s rise has been fueled by a steady influx of firearms trafficked from the United States, especially through Florida, and by the absence of functioning state institutions. The group’s leaders, including figures like Kempes Sanon and Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, operate with near impunity as Haiti’s security forces remain underfunded and outgunned.

Experts and activists within the Haitian diaspora have warned that unless root causes like poverty, corruption, and political instability are addressed, Viv Ansanm will continue to evolve into a parallel power structure that challenges any transitional government’s authority.