Florida Resident Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Over 140 Firearms to Haiti in Major Homeland Security Bust
(Washington, D.C. = Alex Walczak) Jean Robert Casimir, a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Lauderhill, Florida, pleaded guilty to illegally exporting at least 140 firearms to Haiti over a four-year period, marking a significant victory for the Homeland Security Task Force’s crackdown on international arms trafficking.
The U.S. Justice Department announced on August 4, 2026, that Jean Robert Casimir, 53, admitted guilt in federal court for smuggling a large cache of firearms from Florida to Haiti without the required export licenses. The investigation, led by the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), revealed that Casimir operated from August 2020 through December 2024, illegally exporting rifles, pistols, and shotguns.
Court documents show Casimir purchased at least 108 firearms from licensed dealers and an additional 30 to 35 guns from private sellers within Florida. To evade detection, Casimir and his accomplices dismantled the firearms and concealed them inside industrial air compressors, which they cut open and resealed with foam insulation. These shipments were then transported by boat from the Miami area to Haiti.
Casimir, a former Haitian National Police officer, was arrested in Lauderhill on December 16, 2024, and formally indicted on January 23, 2025. The case involved a coordinated effort among the FBI Miami Field Office, Homeland Security Investigations in Washington D.C. and Miami, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg praised the operation, stating, “This case disrupts a critical illegal firearms pipeline linking the United States and Haiti. Our goal remains to dismantle criminal networks that fuel violence and instability both domestically and abroad.”
The prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariel Dean and Trial Attorney Beau Barnes of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, with support from the Southern District of Florida’s U.S. Attorney’s Office. The case is part of the HSTF initiative, established under Executive Order 14159, which targets criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational crime organizations, and human trafficking rings.
The HSTF emphasizes combating crimes involving children and removing violent criminal aliens from the U.S. Casimir’s guilty plea is expected to lead to further investigations into illegal arms trafficking networks in Haiti. The Justice Department reaffirmed its commitment to leveraging interagency cooperation to fight transnational crime and protect American communities.
