Tornado Alley (PROG)

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He Guarded Haiti’s Slain President. And He Was a Suspect in a Drug Inquiry.

"Haiti: Many questions, few answers one month after Moise killing"

[...]

The sprawling drug case not only involves Mr. Hérard, but also judges and the brother-in-law of a former Haitian president. Officials say the staggering quantity of drugs spirited away by officials illustrates the extent to which Haiti has become a narco-state — with Haitian politicians, members of the judiciary and even American officials in the D.E.A. enabling corruption for years.

[...]

When Mr. McNichols and a second former D.E.A. agent, George Greco, first arrived in Haiti in 2014, they said they noticed as much as $1.2 million in irregular expenses that appeared to enable a senior D.E.A. official to receive fraudulent reimbursements.

Witnesses had also reported seeing the senior D.E.A. official meeting several times with Mr. Saint-Rémy in private, raising concerns that the official was tipping off Mr. Saint-Rémy about D.E.A. operations, according to Mr. McNichols and an affidavit by an F.B.I. agent. The D.E.A. prohibits agents from meeting alone with suspected drug traffickers, to prevent bribery and collusion.

A D.E.A. spokeswoman declined to comment on the allegations.

Mr. McNichols said he reported the suspicious payments and meetings, only to be reprimanded by his superiors within the D.E.A. for pressing the matter.

He and Mr. Greco recounted serious flaws in antidrug efforts in Haiti. Whenever he and Mr. McNichols tried to enter the seaport, they said guards stalled them at the entrance for about half an hour, despite their diplomatic license plates. But when they pushed the D.E.A. to do more to fix the problems, they said they were rebuffed .. https://osc.gov/Documents/Public%20Files/FY21/DI-16-1098%2c%2018-1075/Redacted%20DEA%20Reports%20DI-16-1098%2c%20DI-18-1075.pdf .

“The port is an open sewer,” Mr. Greco said.

Van Williams, another United Nations anti-narcotics supervisor based in Haiti at the time, agreed.

“There was very little importance placed on the docks, which I found very strange,” Mr. Williams said. “Corruption in Haiti from the top on down is so rampant.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/21/world/americas/haiti-president-assassination-drugs.html