Dramatic aerial video posted by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele shows at least three helicopters circling and firing on a two-story compound in Croix-des-Bouquets, near Port-au-Prince, while people flee the scene. Bukele says the strike destroyed the home of Wilson Joseph, known as Lanmò San Jou, and the headquarters of his 400 Mawozo gang, which is known for kidnappings and extortion. The operation was reportedly carried out on Sunday, November 8, by Haitian police with support from Salvadoran troops. Joseph was not at the house, according to reports, and Al Jazeera reported that around 20 people were killed, a figure not independently confirmed. Days earlier, Bukele had publicly asked on X where the gang leader's house was located, and he later declared on Tuesday that his forces had kept their promise.

The strike comes after El Salvador expanded its troop presence in Haiti following the disappearance of four Salvadoran airmen in an October 18 ambush in the same area. Joseph has claimed the four are dead, while El Salvador's government says they are alive, and he also asked the UN for peace talks earlier this month. Haiti's prime minister praised the Salvadoran forces, but the operation has also raised concerns. Reports say most Salvadoran troops operate outside the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force's chain of command, and the legal terms of their deployment have not been made public. The big question now is whether destroying a gang's headquarters will weaken 400 Mawozo or just push the violence somewhere else.