Exclusive: Inside Erik Prince’s secretive operation taking on Haiti’s gangs

Trees wrap around buildings, roots sprout from riverbeds of plastic trash, and vines creep down the street. Nature is working to reclaim downtown Port-au-Prince after years of dereliction and gang warfare. But at dawn, through this post-apocalyptic urban forest still come streams of humanity: Hundreds of civilians walk through this dead zone every day, some carrying food, others heading to work — as first light permits them to cross gangland and into what’s left of the city’s free streets.

It is a scene of desperation that repeats at dusk, when the same single file of hundreds returns home. Here were once waterfront villas, a cathedral, a busy market frequented by tourists. No one comes here anymore — unless they have no other choice.

Years of political turmoil, corruption and the ascendance of a deadly gang coalition are suffocating Haiti’s capital city. The US and international community have repeatedly tried and failed to help bring order. Now, the remnants of Haiti’s government have rolled the dice with a very different option: a US private security tycoon.

STREAMING NOW: Haitians are scared to venture out of their homes. Here, life is always on the line. Erik Prince says he can help. Upgrade to watch the full report.

Erik Prince and his private security teams were contracted by the US government during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, most remembered for Blackwater employees opening fire in Baghdad’s Nusoor Square, killing 17 Iraqi civilians. Four of his contractors were convicted in the US and later pardoned by President Donald Trump.

Now he’s in Haiti, where his mercenaries are working with elite local police to break the gangs’ chokehold — a secretive project known as the “Task Force.”

Prince has also introduced drone warfare to Haiti, with over 2,000 strikes since the Task Force began its operation last March. One seen by CNN shows a tiny drone flying straight into what looks like a water tank on a roof. It ruptures, and then suddenly the building is aflame — a strike on what a Task Force source said was a gang factory for Molotov cocktails.

“Insurgencies are not defeated by taking out just leadership,” Prince said last month, in an exclusive interview with CNN in Port-au-Prince. “I know there’s been obsession of that in the United States, but wars are won by taking significant numbers of enemy manpower off the battlefield.”

“They are evil criminals and the best place for them is in the ground.”

It’s an approach that critics say defies international law and due process. But for many Haitians exhausted by years of gang atrocities, the more important question is: Is it working?

Prince’s new company Vectus Global was hired by Haiti’s interim government last year. The Task Force now works in a fractured security landscape that includes the Haitian National Police, the new UN-mandated Gang Suppression Force, Haiti’s long-neglected army and a network of armed vigilante groups.

Soft-spoken in person but prolific on social media, Prince touts his work in Haiti as a model to other failing states with their own intractable security problems.

“When we started, a police truck was lost every week — attacked, ambushed, burned, the occupants slaughtered, butchered,” Prince said, standing on a rooftop overlooking gang-held parts of the capital. “That’s done now, because there’s much better response, quicker air support, drones, whatever, that prevents the police from being overmatched.”

Promised milestones have been elusive. When his contract was announced early last year, Prince said he aimed to free up key roads within a year, making it possible to drive from the northern port city of Cap Haitien to Port-au-Prince. Eighteen months on, the vital route remains strangled by gang checkpoints.

International flights to Port-au-Prince are stopped because of the risk of being shot over gang territory. General elections were supposed to be held in December; they have been postponed indefinitely.

Nonetheless, the past year has, at the least, halted the gangs’ advance in the capital, according to one assessment. The United Nations, which monitors the situation on the ground with quarterly updates, said in September that security operations “have contributed to halting the expansion of gangs in Port-au-Prince and cleared some areas from gang control, including in downtown.”

The death toll remains high. Of the 5,700 people killed or injured in 2026, more than half were casualties around security operations, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said in early October.

The gangs are also changing their strategies. They’re accelerating into other parts of the country, including farming communities that feed the nation. Forcible recruitment of children has tripled over the past year — between 30% and 50% of gang members are now minors , UNICEF estimates.

When gangs come under attack, they leave their youngest members behind with orders to fight until the end, one police commander told CNN.

In the mists of the steep hills that ring southern Port-au-Prince, CNN saw one Task Force operation where helicopters manned by foreign contractors assaulted gang positions, and drones detonated amid the clatter of gunfire.

Earlier this summer, a gang had massacred at least 47 residents and kidnapped dozens more in the town of Kenscoff, on the main southern route out of the capital. It was an apparent attempt to gain leverage over the Task Force, with the gang leader releasing a video threatening to kill hostages if drones hurt his troops.

The gang eventually released its hostages but dug into the tiny nearby hamlet of Bois D’Avril, into which Prince’s foreign ex-special forces flew in September, engaging them in an hours-long firefight.

Footage obtained by CNN showed the Haitian National Police’s SWAT unit entering the village, machine-gunfire in the background, and the distant thud of explosions. It also provided a rare sighting of some of Prince’s men, chatting with a SWAT officer who says, “I have heard a lot of things about you.”

A heavily armed foreign contractor points out to the officer a hillside building as a good security position. “We will be around the next few days to help you out,” he says, in an apparent Australian accent.

It was an operation that local residents cheered, rushing in to burn gang barricades after police declared the area clear. But for now, it’s still too dangerous for the area’s residents to return home. Many are now refugees in their own country, adding to the more than 1.5 million people who are internally displaced in Haiti — about a tenth of the national population.

“I’ve been left with nothing,” said one Kenscoff refugee, Luckson Alfrezin, from a cramped encampment in the capital, after the gang killed his uncles, cousins and aunts, and livestock.

“It’s like being a car with no lights on. You’re living but you don’t see why. You are already dead.”

A central question is how Haiti’s patchwork forces will hold and defend reclaimed areas like Kenscoff. It’s a role beyond what Prince’s small force is designed to do, but where coordination with the still-growing Gang Suppression Force and Haitian National Police is evolving.

Prince would not disclose the annual fee he receives for work with the Task Force, claiming only that it is a “fraction” of the cost of the short-lived Multinational Security Support mission — an initiative backed financially and logistically by the United States, that once envisaged 5,500 foreign police in Port-au-Prince.

“Our cost is one-sixth of what their annual camp cost was,” Prince said. The sum is likely in the tens of millions of dollars.

His income will be augmented by a deal to help control Haiti’s porous border with the Dominican Republic for the next 10 years in return for 10% of any new customs revenue collected. The long-term contract has raised criticism locally of how Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé is using his mandate as interim leader.

Human rights lawyer Rosy Auguste Ducena, who advocates for the rights of victims of violence, says the Haitian public is fed up with the slow pace of change.

“Absence and inaction are still the biggest issue with all the security forces operating in Haiti,” she said, pointing out that no major gang leader has been killed in years.

So far, the Vectus contractors are perceived as “useless,” she added.

“First of all, we don’t notice them, that’s the main thing: We don’t see them. And we know they’re very costly because it’s still our taxes that pay them and we don’t see the results,” she added, calling for greater accountability from all the security forces operating in the country.

Armed groups still operate with “relative impunity” in Haiti, according to Ducena — a fact underlined by dozens of gang social media accounts flaunting their money, weapons, and freedom of movement, in addition to gruesome torture and kidnapping videos.

Prince’s drones have had two palpable effects.

First, ordinary people have been caught in some of the blasts. The UN counts 85 civilians dead from drone strikes across Haiti, according to a CNN tally of UN reporting, and directly attributes this to a “private military contractor.” Accounting is patchy, however, and rights workers say some deaths may go unreported because of difficulties they have reaching the kinds of gangland areas targeted by drones.

The most prominent case was a failed strike on a gang leader’s birthday party in September last year. At least eight children were among the dozen or more people killed when a drone’s explosive fell in the wrong location.

“Everybody started running and screaming. A drone had fallen behind the square where the gang leader was having a party, at the soccer field,” said one woman to CNN, whose 6-year-old daughter was among the dead. “When I rushed to see, I found my child dead, face on the ground.”

Prince acknowledges that accidents are “not impossible,” but declined to comment on specific cases. His team runs “dozens of hours of surveillance in an area before we do anything there — a patrol, a raid, or certainly a drone strike,” he added.

The second impact of the drone strikes has been to force the gangs to take note.

CNN spoke to several gang members in the downtown area of BelAir, where armed men roam the streets openly. They don’t flinch when armored police patrol vehicles pass by, but are wary of the drone threat.

One of them, who gave him name as Etienne, told CNN that “drones are pushing us out of the area.”

A gang lieutenant, Julio, had a message for Prince. “The biggest threat is Erik Prince’s force,” he said, claiming that if the American left “tomorrow,” it would create a need for peace and dialogue with Haiti’s National Police.

“We armed men need peace too. Imagine, I have a wife and kids,” he said from behind his camouflage balaclava, his subordinates holding batons and guns around him.

Dialogue and disarmament have been floated before in Haiti, but sources say attempts to gauge interest from the main gang coalition Viv Ansanm (“Live Together” in Haitian Creole) have so far fallen flat.And while Haiti has committed to a handover protocol for child gang members, getting the public to accept reintegration of anyone with gang associations is likely to be challenging.

That may be why Prince seems so confident in the brutal fix he’s offering.

“I welcome all those critics to come and walk through the rough neighborhoods of Port-au- Prince for a week or a day and see how long they last,” he said.

树木缠绕着建筑物，树根从堆满塑料垃圾的河床中萌发，藤蔓沿着街道蔓延。在经历了多年的荒废和帮派战争之后，大自然正努力重新占领太子港市中心。但在黎明时分，穿过这片末日后的城市森林，依然人流涌动：每天，数百名平民穿过这片死寂之地，有些人带着食物，有些人则赶往工作地点——因为第一缕曙光允许他们穿越帮派地盘，进入这座城市仅存的自由街道。

黄昏时分，这令人绝望的景象再次上演：数百人排着长长的队伍回家。这里曾经是滨水别墅、大教堂和熙熙攘攘、游客络绎不绝的市场。如今，除非别无选择，否则无人再来。

多年的政治动荡、腐败以及一个致命帮派联盟的崛起，正令海地首都窒息。美国和国际社会曾多次尝试帮助海地恢复秩序，但均以失败告终。如今，海地政府残余势力孤注一掷，选择了截然不同的方案：聘请一位美国私人安保巨头。

正在热播：海地人不敢出门。在这里，生命时刻处于危险之中。埃里克·普林斯表示他可以提供帮助。升级观看完整报道。

埃里克·普林斯及其私人安保团队在阿富汗和伊拉克战争期间受雇于美国政府，其中最令人记忆犹新的事件是黑水公司雇员在巴格达努苏尔广场开枪，造成17名伊拉克平民丧生。他的四名承包商在美国被定罪，后被唐纳德·特朗普总统赦免。

现在他身在海地，他的雇佣兵正与当地精锐警察合作，打破帮派的控制——这是一项被称为“特遣队”的秘密计划。

自去年三月特遣部队开始行动以来，普林斯已将无人机作战引入海地，发动了超过2000次空袭。CNN看到的一张照片显示，一架小型无人机径直撞向屋顶上一个看似水箱的物体。水箱破裂后，整栋建筑瞬间燃起熊熊大火——据特遣部队消息人士称，这次空袭的目标是一个制造燃烧弹的团伙窝点。

“仅仅除掉领导层并不能平息叛乱，”普林斯上个月在太子港接受CNN独家采访时表示。“我知道美国一直执迷于此，但战争的胜利在于从战场上削弱敌方的大量兵力。”

“他们是邪恶的罪犯，最适合他们的归宿就是地下。”

批评人士称这种做法违反了国际法和正当程序。但对于许多饱受多年帮派暴行蹂躏的海地人来说，更重要的问题是：这种做法有效吗？

普林斯的新公司Vectus Global去年受聘于海地临时政府。该特别工作组目前在一个支离破碎的安全环境中开展工作，该环境包括海地国家警察、联合国授权新成立的打击帮派部队、长期被忽视的海地军队以及一个武装治安队网络。

普林斯本人说话轻声细语，但在社交媒体上却非常活跃。他将自己在海地的工作视为其他面临棘手安全问题的失败国家的榜样。

“我们刚开始的时候，每周都有一辆警车被毁——遭到袭击、伏击、焚毁，车上人员被屠杀、肢解，”普林斯站在俯瞰首都帮派控制区的一栋楼顶上说道。“现在这种情况已经消失了，因为反应速度更快，空中支援更迅速，还有无人机等等，这些都避免了警察寡不敌众。”

承诺的里程碑始终未能实现。去年年初，普林斯宣布签署合同时曾表示，他的目标是在一年内疏通关键道路，使人们能够从北部港口城市海地角驾车前往太子港。然而，18个月过去了，这条至关重要的道路仍然被帮派检查站封锁。

由于帮派地盘争夺战中存在枪击风险，飞往太子港的国际航班已暂停。原定于1​​2月举行的大选已被无限期推迟。

然而，据一项评估显示，过去一年至少阻止了帮派在首都的扩张。联合国每季度都会发布最新情况报告，持续监测当地局势。联合国在9月份表示，安全行动“有助于阻止帮派在太子港的扩张，并清除了部分地区的帮派控制，包括市中心。”

死亡人数仍然居高不下。联合国人权事务高级专员沃尔克·图尔克10月初表示，2026年共有5700人伤亡，其中超过一半是在安全行动中丧生的。

这些犯罪团伙也在改变策略。他们正加速向全国其他地区扩张，包括那些为全国提供粮食的农业社区。据联合国儿童基金会估计，过去一年里，强迫招募儿童的案件增加了两倍——目前，30%到50%的团伙成员是未成年人。

一位警官告诉 CNN，当帮派遭到攻击时，他们会留下最年轻的成员，命令他们战斗到最后一刻。

在环绕太子港南部陡峭山丘的迷雾中，CNN 目睹了一次特遣部队行动，外国承包商驾驶的直升机袭击了帮派据点，无人机在枪林弹雨中引爆。

今年夏天早些时候，一个团伙在首都南部主要出城路线上的肯斯科夫镇屠杀了至少47名居民，并绑架了数十人。这显然是该团伙企图以此要挟特遣部队，其头目发布了一段视频，威胁说如果无人机伤及他的部队，他将杀害人质。

该团伙最终释放了人质，但却在附近的小村庄博伊斯达夫里尔构筑了防御工事。9 月，普林斯的外国前特种部队飞抵该村庄，与他们展开了长达数小时的枪战。

CNN获得的视频显示，海地国家警察特警队进入村庄，背景中传来机枪扫射声，远处传来爆炸声。视频还罕见地拍到了一些普林斯的手下，他们正在与一名特警队员交谈，该队员说：“我听说过很多关于你的事。”

一名全副武装的外国承包商向警官指出山坡上的一栋建筑，说那里是个不错的安保位置。“接下来几天我们会在附近协助你们，”他用一口明显的澳大利亚口音说道。

警方宣布该地区已清剿后，当地居民纷纷响应，冲进火场焚烧帮派设置的路障，为这次行动欢呼雀跃。但目前，该地区的居民仍然无法返回家园，因为那里仍然十分危险。许多人现在成了自己国家的难民，这使得海地境内的流离失所者人数超过150万，约占海地总人口的十分之一。

“我什么都没剩下，”肯斯科夫难民卢克森·阿尔弗雷津在首都一个拥挤的营地里说道。此前，该团伙杀害了他的叔叔、堂兄弟、姑姑和牲畜。

“这就像一辆没开灯的汽车。你活着，却不知道为什么。你已经死了。”

一个核心问题是，海地这支由各路力量拼凑而成的部队将如何守住并保卫像肯斯科夫这样的收复地区。这超出了普林斯领导的这支小型部队的职责范围，但与仍在不断壮大的帮派镇压部队和海地国家警察的协调正在逐步展开。

普林斯不愿透露他每年从特遣部队获得的费用，只声称这只是短暂存在的多国安全支援任务成本的“一小部分”——这项由美国在财政和后勤上支持的计划，曾经设想在太子港部署 5500 名外国警察。

“我们的费用只有他们全年夏令营费用的六分之一，”普林斯说。这笔费用总额可能高达数千万美元。

他的收入将通过一项协议增加，该协议规定他将在未来十年内帮助管控海地与多米尼加共和国之间漏洞百出的边境，作为回报，他将获得新增关税收入的10%。这份长期合同在当地引发了批评，人们质疑总理阿利克斯·迪迪埃·菲尔斯-艾梅如何行使他作为临时领导人的职权。

人权律师罗西·奥古斯特·杜塞纳 (Rosy Auguste Ducena) 致力于维护暴力受害者的权利，她说海地公众已经厌倦了缓慢的变革步伐。

“缺席和不作为仍然是在海地开展行动的所有安全部队面临的最大问题，”她指出，多年来没有一个主要帮派头目被击毙。

她补充说，到目前为止，Vectus 的承包商被认为是“无用的”。

“首先，我们根本没注意到他们，这是最关键的：我们看不到他们。而且我们知道他们的成本很高，因为最终还是由我们的税款来支付，但我们却看不到任何成效，”她补充道，并呼吁该国所有安全部队加强问责制。

杜塞纳表示，武装团体在海地仍然“相对不受惩罚地”活动——数十个帮派社交媒体账户炫耀他们的金钱、武器和行动自由，以及令人毛骨悚然的酷刑和绑架视频，都印证了这一事实。

Prince 的无人机已经产生了两个明显的效果。

首先，一些爆炸事件波及到了普通民众。据美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）对联合国报告的统计，联合国称海地各地无人机袭击已造成85名平民死亡，并直接将此归咎于一家“私人军事承包商”。然而，统计数据并不完整，人权工作者表示，由于难以进入无人机袭击目标区域——那些黑帮横行的地区，一些死亡事件可能并未被记录在案。

最引人注目的案例是去年9月对一名黑帮头目生日聚会的一次失败袭击。无人机投下的炸弹落错位置，造成十几人死亡，其中包括至少八名儿童。

“大家都开始跑，尖叫。一架无人机掉在了广场后面的足球场上，那里是黑帮头目开派对的地方，”一位母亲告诉CNN，她6岁的女儿也在遇难者之列。“我冲过去一看，发现我的孩子脸朝下趴在地上，已经死了。”

普林斯承认意外事故“并非不可能”，但他拒绝就具体案例置评。他还补充说，他的团队会在“任何行动之前——无论是巡逻、突袭，还是无人机袭击——对目标区域进行数十小时的监视”。

无人机袭击的第二个影响是迫使犯罪团伙重视起来。

CNN采访了贝尔艾尔市中心几名帮派成员，那里武装人员公开在街头游荡。他们对装甲警车巡逻经过毫不畏惧，但却对无人机的威胁保持警惕。

其中一人自称艾蒂安，他告诉 CNN，“无人机正在把我们赶出这个地区。”

帮派头目胡里奥给普林斯带了个话。“最大的威胁是埃里克·普林斯的势力，”他说，并声称如果这个美国人“明天”就离开，就会引发与海地国家警察进行和平对话的必要性。

“我们这些武装人员也需要和平。想想看，我也有妻子和孩子，”他从迷彩头套后说道，他的下属们在他周围拿着警棍和枪支。

对话与裁军的提议此前在海地也曾被提出，但消息人士称，迄今为止，试图了解主要帮派联盟“维夫·安桑姆”（Viv Ansanm，海地克里奥尔语意为“共同生活”）对此的兴趣的努力均告失败。尽管海地已承诺对儿童帮派成员实施移交协议，但要让公众接受任何与帮派有关联的人重新融入社会，恐怕仍是一项挑战。

这或许可以解释为什么普林斯对他提出的残酷解决方案如此自信。

“我欢迎所有批评家来太子港的贫民窟走一走，哪怕只待一天或一周，看看他们能坚持多久，”他说。