The amount of the tax varies depending on the size of the building, its condition and whether it houses a business, according to a source familiar with the gang’s demands.
Once seen as the least criminal of gang leaders, Christ-Roy “Krisla” Chery is catching up with, and at times surpassing, his peers in cruelty through his grip on Carrefour’s roughly 500,000 residents.
The Viv Ansanm gang boss is already charged with kidnapping, rape and murder. Now, he is imposing an annual tax on homes in the municipality, according to several residents interviewed by AyiboPost.
Since August 5, members of his gang have been demanding between 5,000 and 200,000 gourdes from homeowners.
The amount of the tax varies depending on the size of the building, its condition and whether it houses a business, according to a source familiar with the gang’s demands.
The gang began its assault on Carrefour, located about six miles from the capital, in 2023, before fully establishing itself there in February 2024.
Since then, the gang has imposed its rule and taxed all kinds of activities carried out by residents.
On the morning of August 5, this man was not at home when gang members came by to warn him that he would have to hand over roughly 20,000 gourdes by the afternoon. A member of his family was tasked with relaying the ultimatum.
Panicked, the man eventually managed to raise the money after pawning his motorcycle.
“It’s because I have nowhere else to go. Otherwise, I would leave the house to them,” the father said. He paid the gangsters even though his child’s school tuition and supplies remain unpaid.
As elections approach, gang members are demanding as much as 200,000 gourdes for other homes in the municipality.
AyiboPost learned that the annual tax was decided during two meetings organized by “Krisla,” one in July and another in early August 2026.
The meetings were held in Carrefour and in the Fontamara neighborhood.
During the meetings, which brought together local notables and other residents, “Krisla” claimed that the money would be used to finance services for the community, according to a source who spoke to AyiboPost. The source requested anonymity to avoid provoking the gang members’ anger.
Some sheet-metal homes that are in poor condition will be taxed 5,000 gourdes. Two-story homes, meanwhile, will be taxed between 15,000 and 50,000 gourdes, according to a source who spoke to AyiboPost.
The gang members plan to seize vacant homes and then rent them out after the owner has been absent for three months.
The gang also asks schools for a “voluntary offering.” Hospitals, meanwhile, are exempt from the tax, unlike banks and gas stations, most of which already make monthly payments to the gangs.
Beginning August 1, gang members started registering homes in different neighborhoods, including Lamentin, ahead of the start of collection.
Some people are considering leaving the municipality, but they face a situation in which they must pay the gang leader who controls the neighborhood where they live and then pay again when they arrive in the area where they intend to settle.
For this resident, who has lived in Carrefour for about 40 years, Krisla’s extortion machine is widespread.
“If you get on a motorcycle and carry a suitcase, you pay 50 gourdes. For a money transfer, you give 200 gourdes for every $100 you collect. At the money-transfer offices — MoneyGram, Western Union, CAM Transfer, etc. — they tell you it’s for the boss.”
The man, who will also have to pay the tax on his home, told AyiboPost that people traveling to downtown Port-au-Prince pay 200 gourdes both on the way there and on the way back.
At certain points along National Road No. 2, which runs through Carrefour, travelers must also pay the gang members. Motorcycle-taxi drivers, meanwhile, have to hand over between 100 and 250 gourdes.
“People aren’t living. They aren’t free. You can’t stay and then decide to leave for a certain place, because you have to think about the passage, which is the whole problem,” the man said, blaming the state for the situation.
AyiboPost also learned that merchants who travel to the border with the Dominican Republic to buy supplies also pay through the toll points controlled by the gangs in Carrefour.
The gang members even shut down a church for three weeks in Lamentin 52 at the beginning of 2026 because it had not paid. The closure deprived worshippers of any religious activities, according to a source who spoke to AyiboPost.
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