How Haiti's Gangs Made Tortuga a Caribbean Drug Trafficking Hotspot

Haiti's gangs are no longer content staying local. They are increasingly making themselves known in the Caribbean cocaine trade, with the island of Tortuga now a growing port of call.

On July 13, a small Haitian patrol boat edged towards a target i: a low-slung vessel riding heavy in the swell off Île de la Tortue, otherwise known as Tortuga.

When police ordered the crew to raise their hands, the traffickers opened fire. Some tried to escape by throwing themselves into the sea. By the time the shooting stopped, three suspected traffickers, including one Jamaican, were dead, and another, a Bahamian, was badly wounded and under arrest.