MIAMI (MT) — Haitian businessman Dimitri Vorbe, a member of one of Haiti’s most influential families, has been arrested by U.S. immigration agents in Florida on allegations of supporting violent gangs that have fueled the country’s collapse into chaos.
Vorbe was taken into custody on Tuesday in the Miami area by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to the State Department. The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince stated that investigators concluded Vorbe “participated in a campaign of violence and gang support that contributed to Haiti’s destabilization.” Officials further warned that his actions inside the United States posed risks to Washington’s foreign policy.
The Embassy amplified the announcement on social media, sharing a video featuring Vorbe’s mugshot with the word “detained” stamped across it in red. The footage also showed him standing before a camera, held at the shoulders and arms by two men in flak jackets.
A powerful family under scrutiny
Vorbe hails from a family that once controlled a private energy company contracted to provide electricity in Haiti, while also securing major government construction projects. His arrest makes him the second high-profile Haitian elite detained in the U.S. within two months, following the July arrest of businessman and former presidential candidate Pierre Réginald Boulos. Both men remain in detention near Miami.
Authorities accuse Boulos, like Vorbe, of maintaining ties to armed gangs that Washington has recently designated as foreign terrorist organizations. Neither man has yet been formally charged, and no court records show indictments against them.
Gangs and Haiti’s unraveling
Haiti’s wealthy elite have long been accused of financing or protecting the gangs that dominate up to 90 percent of Port-au-Prince. These armed groups have turned the capital into a battleground, displacing thousands and overwhelming Haiti’s fragile institutions.
Efforts to restore order have faltered. A U.N.-backed multinational mission led by Kenyan officers and designed to support Haiti’s National Police remains badly under-resourced. The force currently numbers fewer than 1,000, far short of the 2,500 envisioned, and has raised only about $112 million of the $800 million estimated annual cost.
Haiti on the U.N. agenda
Vorbe’s detention coincides with the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where Haiti’s plight has been raised repeatedly. Kenyan President William Ruto said this week that the mission’s shortcomings — including outdated U.S.-donated vehicles that frequently broke down in dangerous zones — left personnel exposed to grave risks. He called for a successor mission with a stronger mandate.
The U.S. and Panama have urged the U.N. Security Council to authorize a new 5,550-member force with authority to detain suspected gang leaders. Dominican President Luis Abinader, whose country shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, echoed those calls.
“The multidimensional crisis in Haiti represents a serious threat to peace and security for the Dominican Republic and the entire region,” Abinader told the Assembly, stressing that only coordinated and sustained international intervention could address the crisis.
Story by the Midtown Times, adapted from initial reporting by the Associated Press.
