US Coast Guard Transfers 1.4 Tons of Marijuana to Haitian National Police in Joint Interdiction

The United States Coast Guard transferred approximately 1.4 tons of intercepted marijuana to the Haitian National Police (PNH) on May 5, 2026, in an operation reflecting ongoing US-Haiti bilateral security cooperation despite Haiti's deep institutional crisis. The drug seizure and transfer underscores the continued functioning of Caribbean maritime law enforcement coordination even as Haiti's security situation remains dire, and signals that the US maintains security cooperation channels with the Haitian police as the GSF-PNH joint operations continue in Port-au-Prince. Drug trafficking through Haitian territory — both marijuana flows from Jamaican networks and cocaine transshipment from South America — represents a significant revenue stream for gang organizations that use maritime and overland routes through their controlled territories. The US Coast Guard regularly conducts counter-narcotics interdiction operations in the Caribbean, and formal handovers to Haitian authorities help maintain bilateral cooperation frameworks while supporting PNH's capacity to process and prosecute drug trafficking cases. The transfer also provides diplomatic cover for US-Haiti relations during the politically sensitive period of the Trump administration's TPS termination court proceedings.