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Haiti remains on the United States’ list of 23 major drug transit hubs, as traffickers continue to use its territory for cocaine smuggling routes, according to a designation recently submitted to Congress by the Trump administration. U.S. officials emphasize that inclusion on the list does not reflect a country’s cooperation or enforcement efforts but instead underscores Haiti’s geographic and criminal role in regional trafficking.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — The Trump administration has kept Haiti on its list of 23 countries considered major drug transit or production hubs, according to a recent annual presidential determination submitted to Congress. The country has appeared on the list for 36 consecutive years.
The White House emphasized that designation does not necessarily reflect a government’s enforcement efforts or cooperation with the U.S. to undercut traffickers. Instead, it is based on geography and economic factors that make the country a hub for trafficking.
In 1989, former President George H. W. Bush — along with Congress through a joint resolution — had classified Haiti as a “major drug-transit country” under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, due to its role in facilitating the trafficking of narcotics into the United States.
“The reason countries are placed on the list is the combination of geographic, commercial and economic factors that allow drugs or precursor chemicals to be transited or produced,” according to a statement from the White House’s communications office.
Countries on the 2025 list include Haiti, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico, along with several in Asia and Central America.
The determination came just days before U.S. federal prosecutors announced a nine-year prison sentence for Jean Eliobert “Eddy One” Jasme, a trafficker who moved cocaine from Venezuela and Colombia through Haiti and the Dominican Republic before routing it to the Bahamas and the U.S. His sentence also includes four years of supervised release and a $1 million penalty. He had admitted to planning to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine, knowing it would be brought illegally into the United States.
“Traffickers use transshipment points across Haiti…throughout the Caribbean to reach the final delivery destination, which is the United States of America — and we will track down every one of these narco-traffickers.”
Kash Patel, FBI Director
Court records show Jasme’s operation relied on boats and small planes until he was arrested by Haitian police in 2022 and extradited to the U.S.
At a Senate hearing on Sept. 16, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel said traffickers continue to use Haitian territory to move cocaine into U.S. markets. “A large portion of the cocaine coming from South America originates in Venezuela,” he said, “and traffickers use transshipment points across Haiti throughout the Caribbean to reach the final delivery destination, which is the United States.”
Record seizures in 2025 as more trafficking networks are exposed
Haitian National Police (PNH) recorded their largest-ever cocaine bust on July 13, when 1.05 tonnes of cocaine were seized on Ile de la Tortue or Tortuga Island in the northwest. Authorities estimated the haul’s street value at nearly $29 million. The operation left one Jamaican suspect dead and another Bahamian injured.
According to local authorities, the vessel transporting the drug cargo was en route to the United States via the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Prosecutor Jeir Pierre stated that law enforcement had been monitoring this route for years, but efforts were hindered by limited resources
Other cases this year include marijuana and cocaine seizures in Cap-Haïtien, Les Cayes and Aquin, along with several arrests, notably that of Samuel Luxamar in the south with nearly a kilogram of marijuana in June.
Despite these seizures, analysts say Haiti’s role as a smuggling hub is deepening. Former Haitian Armed Forces Colonel Himmler Rébu recently told The Haitian Times that Haiti is “steadily shifting toward a narco-state,” with gangs providing cover for international networks operating through ports and airspace.
“This is no longer just about local drug traffickers — it involves a transnational network operating through Haiti’s ports and airspace under gang protection,” said Rébu, leader of the political party Grand Rassemblement pour l’Évolution d’Haïti (GREH).
The United Nations has also flagged Haiti as a growing hub for narcotics and arms trafficking, with gangs using profits to fuel violence. A February 2025 report noted customs seizures of both drugs and weapons, along with the involvement of Bahamian nationals in Caribbean smuggling rings.
Haiti’s continued designation as a drug transit hub, experts say, reflects not only geography but also the impunity gangs and traffickers enjoy amid a weak justice system. With limited state control and widespread corruption, international cartels have found Haiti an indispensable node in their trafficking routes.