Manzanares case: Court of Appeal sends Marc Antoine Acra and four other defendants to criminal trial

The Port-au-Prince Court of Appeal on Monday, October 26, 2026, ordered five defendants, including businessman Marc Antoine Acra, sent before the criminal court sitting without a jury, to be tried for international illicit drug trafficking in the Manzanares ship case, Bing Eko Radio, Ted'Actu and Équilibre Presse report.

The sources name only two of the five: Marc Antoine Acra, head of Nabatco, the company that imported the sugar cargo, and Fedner Dolisca, described by Ted'Actu as the ship's general foreman. All are presumed innocent; a trial has yet to be held.

According to Bing Eko Radio and Ted'Actu, the Court also recommends that the prosecutor's office consider new proceedings against several people and companies that may have been involved in ordering, loading, transporting and unloading the sugar. The results of the international rogatory commission requested during the investigation are still not available.

Eleven years of proceedings

The case dates back to April 2015. The Panama-flagged Manzanares had docked at the Varreux terminal with about 6,500 tonnes of Colombian sugar bound for Nabatco. The anti-narcotics bureau (BLTS) found 108 kg of cocaine and 15 kg of heroin hidden in the hold, and crew members were arrested. Other media at the time reported much larger quantities, which the court record does not retain.

In April 2016, government commissioner Jean Danton Léger imposed a travel ban on Marc Antoine Acra, which a summary-proceedings judge lifted, according to Radio Maximum. On July 29, 2016, investigating judge Berge O. Surpris sent Marc Antoine Acra, Sébastien François Xavier Acra and Grégory Georges, known as "Ti Ketan," before the criminal court without a jury for illicit drug trafficking, along with Fedner Dolisca and Jacquelin Wilfrid for complicity, Le Nouvelliste and Radio Maximum reported. Sixteen other suspects had the charges dismissed.

The Acra brothers and Fedner Dolisca appealed. On April 26, 2018, the Court of Appeal ordered a new investigation, according to Le Nouvelliste.

The defendants' account

Questioned by the Court of Appeal in February 2018, Marc Antoine Acra said he was not in Haiti during the loading and unloading but in the United States, attending a course at MIT in Boston, according to Le Nouvelliste and Ted'Actu. He argued that the drugs were found under the ship's stairs, not in the sugar bags, and questioned the release of the captain and sailors. Fedner Dolisca denied any involvement, saying he boarded after the BLTS inspection at the agents' invitation. No reaction from the lawyers to the October 26 ruling has been reported.

Ottawa's statement does not mention the Manzanares case.