Nairobi, April 9 -- The arsenals of Haitian gangs are far more powerful than those of the Caribbean country's police force, posing a risk to the 1,000 Kenyan police officers due to go to the country on a peacekeeping mission.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says in its latest report that the gangs are armed with Russian AK47s, United States of America (US)-made AR-15s and Israeli Galil assault rifles.

"A surge in the trafficking of increasingly sophisticated weapons has gripped Haiti since 2021," UNODC said in the report.

The UNODC representative in the region said Haiti is facing a severe humanitarian crisis.

"The consequences have plunged the Caribbean nation into an ongoing political and humanitarian crisis. Th...