The aircraft was on its way to the airport to pick up sick soldiers from the US embassy in this capital, but the Chen Mecan gang members thought it was an attack on their fiefdom.

Without second thoughts, they fled the area and left behind part of their weapons, commented the Kominotek Noticias website.

The criminal group belongs to the Viv Ansanm gang coalition and controls areas on the outskirts of the Haitian capital.

“After seeing the aircraft overflying their positions, they believed that a military operation was being conducted to dismantle their organization. Panicking, they scattered, abandoning weapons and vehicles in a frantic flight,” the source said.

Radio stations were quick to comment that the reaction to the flyover by US helicopters and the bandits’ hasty escape shows what the Achilles heel of the gangs in the Caribbean nation is.

The stampede of criminals fearful of a large-scale foreign military operation means they are convinced it will be the only way to take decisive action against them, the sources said.

ied/oda/joe