Haiti Forces Blow Up 400 Mawozo Leader’s House Days After Gang Asked for Peace Talks

A Haitian police drone task force backed by Salvadoran soldiers destroyed a house used by 400 Mawozo leader Wilson Joseph early Sunday, killing several gunmen inside.

Joseph, known as Lanmò San Jou, was not in the house, which had been under surveillance. Two sources told the Herald that as many as 20 of his gunmen were inside and were killed. The house was struck at about 2:30 a.m. by the task force, which uses explosive drones flown by Haitian police officers with support from private security contractors. Four helicopters gave air support, two flown by the task force and two by Salvadoran troops, a source said.

It was the second time the task force has destroyed a house linked to a gang leader. In January it blew up at least two homes belonging to Jimmy Chérizier, known as Barbecue, who also was not home. The task force works out of the prime minister’s office and is supported by the private firm Vectus Global, founded by former Navy SEAL and Blackwater founder Erik Prince.

The strike came two days after the gang told The Associated Press it had reached out to Haiti’s National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration in a push for “peace, stability and national reconciliation.” In a three-page statement, the gang said “dialogue is not a capitulation,” but an “act of patriotic responsibility to preserve human lives.”

“Haiti’s future cannot be built solely on confrontations and military operations.”

A gang spokesperson, who spoke to the AP anonymously, said the gang is willing to negotiate, that disarmament is “a process,” and that it wants peace and an end to what it called “international interference.” The United Nations and rights groups accuse 400 Mawozo of rape, killing and kidnapping. The gang denies it.

The gang’s statement also raised concern over social media posts about Joseph’s home, including comments attributed to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. On Friday, Bukele wrote on X, in reply to a post that allegedly showed the house: “Where is that house? Give us the exact address, and we’ll destroy it.” El Salvador’s government declined to comment to the AP.

The campaign has intensified since four Salvadoran aviation technicians serving with the UN-authorized Gang Suppression Force were ambushed on Oct. 18. Their whereabouts are unknown. Bukele sent troops to Haiti in what he called a search-and-rescue mission. The AP puts the number at more than 2,000, and the Herald at about 2,500.