Stolen Colombian weapons, ammo may have ended up in hands of Haiti gangs, president says

Some of the weapons and ammunition recently discovered stolen from two Colombian military bases might have ended up in the hands of armed gangs in Haiti, according to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who warned that arms smugglers have created alliances with corrupt members of his country’s military.

While describing the theft of the weaponry as a grave issue, Petro also warned that part of the military supplies could have ended up in the hands of Colombian guerrillas and other local armed groups. Besides ammunition, the missing supplies include explosives, hand grenades and anti-tank missiles.

The weapons were “destined for third parties such as armed irregular groups in Colombia... and probably for groups involved in foreign conflicts, the closest being Haiti,” Petro said on Tuesday from the presidential palace in Bogota.

“More than a million rounds of ammunition have been lost,” he said, as well as “explosives, grenades and weapons such as missiles” from the military bases at Tolemaida, 75 miles southwest of Bogota, and La Guajira, near the northern border with Venezuela. “There have been networks made up of people from the military and civilian forces dedicated to a massive arms trade for a long time,” the president added.

The missing equipment was detected amid reports that foreign smugglers have been supplying weapons to Haitian gangs, feeding the growing spiral of armed violence gripping the country. Amid a two-month-long insurgency by armed groups in Haiti, gangs have seem to have an endless supply of ammunition, raising questions about their origin.

Experts following the trafficking of arms into the country also note the presence of newer heavy-caliber weapons popping up in the hands of gangs, raising suspicions about whether they could be coming from nations other than the United States, the leading source of illegal guns and ammunition to Haiti.

Petro did not say if his government has specific evidence suggesting that part of the stolen equipment was sent to Haiti, but pointed out that the Guajira base is only seven hours away by fast boat from the Caribbean nation.

The discovery was the result of inspections of military bases in the center and northern sectors of the country between February and April, which found that ammuition and weapons were missing, said Petro, who did not disclose the caliber of the armaments. The audits also showed that thousands of grenades and anti-tank charges were also missing, as well as 550 rockets and two missiles.

In Haiti armed groups have attacked hospitals, police stations and the premises of the country’s newspaper, Le Nouvelliste, as they continue to tighten their hold over the capital, Port-au-Prince. Even the downtown premises of the National Press, home of the government’s official newspaper, Le Moniteur, hasn’t been spared.

Earlier this week, the Office of the U.S Secretary of State for the Integration of People with Disabilities said that disabled individuals living at the St. Vincent Home in downtown Port-au-Prince were victims of an attack by armed groups. The home is now among several facilities and government structures in the downtown area of the capital that have been targeted by gangs that have vandalized or looted training schools and the National Library.

Petro, wearing a military cap while meeting with journalists at the presidential palace on Tuesday, described the theft of Colombia’s weaponry as a scandalous act of corruption involving officials in charge of protecting the state.

The missing weapons were detected amid his government’s efforts to fight corruption. “One of the main goals is to separate members of the public force from any criminal association,” he said.