Haiti: Major Gang Leader Arrested

Haiti: Major Gang Leader Arrested in Capital’s Slums

New York, May 8 2007 5:00PM

A long-hunted Haitian gang leader accused of assassinations, kidnappings and extortion was arrested today in a joint operation by Haitian National Police and United Nations peacekeepers in Cité Soleil, the notorious slum area in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

The arrest of Torchon Jean Eoldy, alias Blade Nasson, who terrorized the neighbourhoods of Ti-Haïti and Linteau, is a part of “the joint efforts of the blue helmets and the PNH to return a lasting peace to Cité Soleil,” according to the UN Mission in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH.

“It will, in particular, allow the population of Linteau and Ti-Haiti to get back little by little to normal life,” the mission noted in a press release.

In addition to being the leader of violent criminal activity in his own right, Mr. Eoldy was also known as the right-hand man of another recently arrested gang leader, Bélony Emalyse, who has been accused of attacking MINUSTAH troops in Cité Soleil.

In recent months, MINUSTAH has stepped up efforts to crack down on criminal gangs in violence-ridden Haiti; since the start of the year, more than 400 gang members have been arrested.

ENDS

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