Lake Worth Beach Shipper in Haiti Arms fiasco

A bizarre arms trafficking case in Haiti leaves scars in South Florida

“What a mess, what a mess,” a Haitian police officer moans as he takes video of a cache of military-style guns and ammunition seized at the port of Port-au-Prince on July 14, 2022.

“If this keeps up,” he asks, “you don’t think this country won’t be destroyed?”

In truth, that “mess” of smuggled arms the officer recorded wasn’t rare. In recent years, assault weapons have poured into Haiti, often from Florida. In fact, the load that arrived that day was shipped from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. They’re funneled to the violent and powerful gangs that have become Haiti’s de facto rulers as the country’s government and economy collapse.

In October, a Haitian judge announced charges against several people in the case — which has turned out to be a dizzyingly convoluted conspiracy involving Episcopal priests, high-ranking Haitian officials and Haitians here in South Florida, especially Palm Beach County, Lake Worth Beach to be exact.

Remy Lindor, who is one of those charged in Haiti with arms trafficking but he has not been charged in the U.S. He was taken advantage of by those using his shipping company.

Shippers like him are not legally required to confirm that what their customers say they’re sending is actually what’s being sent. Lindor’s attorney, John Howe of West Palm Beach, says that made Lindor vulnerable.

Read about it... This was in yesterday's Palm Beach Post.