US Marine arrested in Haiti gun smuggling case had help, forged documents, feds say
A Marine was in contact with someone in Haiti and was carrying forged military orders when he landed in the Port-au-Prince airport with guns, ammunition and body armor, federal prosecutors charge in a new indictment.
Airport security in Haiti arrested Jacques Yves Sebastien Duroseau when he landed in the country on Nov. 12 on a commercial flight with boxes of guns and ammunition, according to court filings.
Federal investigators said Duroseau, an enlisted active-duty Marine and native of Haiti, had a colonel’s uniform with his name on it in his luggage and forged military orders that identified him as a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Duroseau was brought back to the United States in December and is being held without bail, according to federal court records filed with the Eastern District of North Carolina.
‘Wants to become President of Haiti’
The Marine reportedly told U.S. investigators that he wanted to help train Haitian security forces.
According to the new indictment, Duroseau had been in contact with an unnamed person in Haiti since at least April 2019 about returning to Haiti to help train police with hopes of becoming president of the troubled Caribbean country.
A person listed only as a “known individual” told investigators Duroseau “wanted to help Haiti and wants to become President of Haiti,” according to court filings.
Federal court filings describe this person as an “individual known to the Grand Jury in Haiti,” but do not give any additional details.
In early November, federal prosecutors say, Duroseau told this unnamed person about his plan to bring guns into the county. Haiti is under a U.S. arms embargo.
When Duroseau boarded an American Airlines flight in New Bern, North Carolina, he disclosed to the airline he was carrying five handguns, three military-style rifles and ammunition in his checked baggage, according to court filings.
Haitian customs officials said “they became suspicious when they saw the three black cases, two of which were long. Most often the cases mean guns are inside,” the Miami Herald reported.
Duroseau, a firearms instructor with the Marines, said he “picked every gun” so he could train Haiti’s security forces, according to court filings. The new indictment said he wanted to train police, but older court filings said he planned to train the military.
Interviewed by U.S. agents after his arrest in Haiti, Duroseau said he knew what he was bringing in was illegal, according to court records.
Duroseau told investigators with the Naval Criminal Investigative Services that getting arrested was part of his plan to “gain a platform to make a statement” in Haiti, the indictment said.
“I know why I brought (the guns),” he told the federal agents, the indictment said. “It’s still a part of the attention I need.”
He told them he wanted to “wear the uniform of the military that’s been established” and “defeat the thugs that have been creating a little bit of part of the instability in Haiti,” according to the indictment.
Duroseau is scheduled to appear in federal court in Raleigh for an arraignment in March. His new charges include gun smuggling, violating the arms embargo on Haiti and impersonating an officer of the United States.
Duroseau is represented by Edward Gray, a federal public defender. Gray did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new charges.
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 2:31 PM.
