Former police officer Jimmy Chérizier, alias “Barbecue,” is one of Haiti’s most important gang leaders. He is best known for establishing the G9 and Family (G9 an fanmi – G9), a criminal federation of nine powerful gangs in Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince.
Barbecue has strong links with one of Haiti’s most powerful political forces, the Haitian Tèt Kale Party (Parti Haïtien Tèt Kale – PHTK), as well as the police. More recently, he has challenged the Haitian state, demanding the resignation of interim President Ariel Henry. He continues to fill a power vacuum left by former President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination, possibly utilizing alliances with political elites formerly aligned with Moïse.
History
Barbecue’s criminal career dates back to his time as a police officer.
In November 2017, he participated in a supposed anti-gang operation that led to the extrajudicial killing of at least nine innocent civilians in the Grand Ravine neighborhood of Port-au-Prince.
A year later in November 2018, while still a police officer, Barbecue allegedly led a group of seven gangs in a massacre in the La Saline neighborhood of Port-au-Prince. Witnesses reported they saw Barbecue talking with former government official Joseph Pierre Richard Duplan and other gang leaders during the attack.
La Saline was Haiti’s worst massacre in more than a decade, with at least 71 people killed. Barbecue was fired from the police force a month later, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Barbecue evaded capture, however, and participated in a four-day attack across Port-au-Prince’s Bel-Air neighborhood in November 2019. Barbecue and members of four gangs set houses ablaze and killed at least 24 people.
Ahead of these massacres, Barbecue received money, weapons, police uniforms, and government vehicles from senior officials in Moïse’s government.
The massacres — which largely targeted opposition neighborhoods across Haiti’s capital — served mutual benefits for senior state officials and Barbecue. The government could crack down on opposition strongholds while Barbecue could gain influence as leader of the Delmas 6 gang.
In May 2020, Barbecue was linked to further attacks in the capital in which scores of houses were incinerated and residents were burned and shot to death. Before the massacres, Barbecue and allied gang leaders allegedly held a “preparatory meeting” to “organize simultaneous attacks” across several Port-au-Prince neighborhoods, Haiti’s National Human Rights Defense Network (Réseau National de Défense des Droits de l’Homme) revealed.
The attacks were an immediate precursor to the G9’s formation. Barbecue presented the gang alliance as a way to restore peace across Port-au-Prince. Instead, the coalition has expanded its territorial control and provided politicians a way to stamp out opposition.
In July 2021, Barbecue and the G9 faced a turning point when their alleged political sponsor, Moïse, was assassinated in his private residence.
A senior government official told InSight Crime that before Moïse’s assassination, 50% percent of the G9’s funding came from government money, 30% percent from kidnappings, and 20% percent from extortion. However, after the killing, government funding dropped by 30% percent.
In protest of Henry’s interim government and perhaps as a way to regain lost political and economic influence, Barbecue led multiple blockades of Haiti’s largest oil terminal, Terminal Varreux, from October to November 2021 and again from September to November 2022. The blockades were part of a coordinated effort by Barbecue to restrict access to fuel across Haiti, thereby destabilizing the government. The chaos and shortages that followed demonstrated just how much power Haiti’s gangs had accumulated.
In October 2022 during the blockade, Barbecue was targeted by UN Security Council sanctions, which imposed a one-year travel ban and an embargo on his economic activities. Barbecue had previously been hit with US sanctions in 2020.
In August 2023, amid continuing calls for a UN-supported security force in Haiti, Barbecue promised that any abuses committed against Haitians by foreign forces will be met with strong resistance. A month later in September, he once again renewed his calls for the ousting of Henry, marching through Port-au-Prince with heavily armed gang members in a show of force.
Criminal Activities
Barbecue’s main role in Haiti’s criminal landscape has been to lead the G9.
He has stepped in as a peacemaker to quell internal divisions and mobilized gangs to commit targeted killings. He has long acted as a bridge between the capital’s gangs and state officials, allegedly bringing both parties together to commit state-sponsored massacres.
Member gangs of the G9 are largely focused on extortion. They take “protection payments” from local businesses, street vendor stands, and public transportation drivers. They also carry out kidnappings for ransom. In other cases, the gangs have taken over public services such as electricity or water provision for payment.
Members of the alliance may also be involved in regional arms trafficking, although this remains unclear. Previously, state officials have provided gangs with weapons to carry out targeted massacres. Barbecue has been a key intermediary in this process.
Geography
Barbecue’s activities have largely been concentrated in neighborhoods across Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, but the extent of his geographical reach is unknown. Haiti’s gang landscape is also constantly changing, making it difficult to track G9’s territories.
Port-au-Prince’s Lower Delmas neighborhood has long been a stronghold for Barbecue. It is home to his Delmas 6 gang.
His influence across the capital has grown in recent years, as member gangs of the G9 have expanded their territorial control. In 2020, the Waf Jérémie neighborhood in the center of Port-au-Prince allegedly became the coalition’s operational base.
Among the areas Barbecue has controlled are Belecourt, Chancerelles, Delmas, La Saline, Martissant, Pont-Rouge, and Fontamara.
G9 has also controlled the Cul-de-Sac plain, an area southwest of Croix-des-Bouquets, a neighborhood controlled by 400 Mawozo. In April 2022, G9 suffered an attack on the vast area from 400 Mawozo, but in a 12-day gang war, Barbecue and his men held off the offensive.
Reports have suggested that the coalition intends to expand into other parts of Haiti with Barbecue at the helm.
Allies and Enemies
Other gang leaders in the G9 coalition have served as Barbecue’s principal allies. He has worked closely with these leaders to achieve territorial expansion and attack rivals.
Port-au-Prince gangs outside of the G9 coalition also maintain friendly relations with Barbecue, providing support to the G9 when necessary. Beyond the slums of Port-au-Prince, Barbecue has allies in high places.
With Barbecue at the helm, G9 has been linked to the politically powerful PHTK. The G9 is alleged to have secured votes for political allies and quelled social unrest. In return, state officials are suspected of granting members of the G9 immunity from law enforcement. Even after Moïse’s assassination, Barbecue has likely maintained some of these ties.
However, a month before Moïse’s assassination in July 2021, Barbecue had called for a revolution against the PHTK, the opposition, and the business sector. The calls came as a surprise considering Barbecue’s previously close ties with the PHTK, and it’s difficult to tell the impact that this rhetoric had on his connections in government.
In wake of the assassination, Barbecue has cast himself as a defender of the former president’s legacy, and has outright rejected interim president Henry’s legitimacy. His blockades, prolonged war with the G-Pèp, and rampant violence have increasingly destabilized Henry’s government.
In reaction to the creation of the G9, Gabriel Jean-Pierre, alias “Ti Gabriel,” created the G-Pèp in November 2020. The G-Pèp is a gang alliance affiliated with PHTK’s opposition. The coalition includes the Brooklyn and Argentins gangs, and is affiliated with the Kraze Barye, 5 Segond, Grand Ravine, and 400 Mawozo gangs, according to a September 2023 United Nations report.
Prospects
With Barbecue at the helm, G9 has continuously demonstrated its ability to control vast swaths of territory and key infrastructure. G9’s political alliances reach the highest levels of the Haitian government and Barbecue holds citizen support in many Port-au-Prince neighborhoods. This gives him enough influence to remain a powerful player in Haiti’s criminal and political sphere.
However, G-Pèp has shown increasing levels of organization and are affiliated with gangs such as the Kraze Barye and 5 Segond that have gained significant power in Haiti in the wake of Moïse’s assassination, according to a September 2023 UN report. If the UN’s claims are accurate, G-Pèp and its affiliates represent a critical threat to Barbecue’s staying power at the pinnacle of Haiti’s criminal landscape.