US officials are working with Haitian authorities to try to secure the release of 12 adults and five children with a US-based missionary group who were abducted over the weekend by a gang notorious for killings, kidnappings and extortion.
The group was snatched by the “400 Mawozo” gang, which controls the Croix-des-Bouquets area east of the capital, Port-au-Prince, police inspector Frantz Champagne said on Sunday.
The abduction happened on Saturday in the community of Ganthier, which lies in the gang’s area. It was blamed for the kidnapping of five priests and two nuns earlier this year.
Photo: Reuters
As authorities sought the release of the 16 Americans and one Canadian with the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries, local unions and other organizations were expected to launch a strike yesterday to protest Haiti’s worsening lack of security.
The western hemisphere’s poorest nation is again struggling with a spike in gang-related kidnappings that had diminished in the past few months, after Haitian president Jovenel Moise was fatally shot at his private residence on July 7 and a magnitude 7.2 earthquake killed more than 2,200 people in August.
“Everyone is concerned. They’re kidnapping from all social classes,” Mehu Changeux, president of Haiti’s Association of Owners and Drivers, told Magik9 radio station.
He said the work stoppage would continue until the government could guarantee people’s safety.
The kidnapping of the missionaries came just days after high-level US officials visited Haiti and promised more resources for the Haitian National Police, including another US$15 million to help reduce gang violence, which this year has displaced thousands of Haitians who now live in temporary shelters in increasingly unhygienic conditions.
The US Department of State said that it was in regular contact with senior Haitian authorities and would continue to work with them and interagency partners.
“The welfare and safety of US citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the Department of State,” the agency said in a statement.
Christian Aid Ministries said the kidnapped group included seven women, five men and five children, including a two-year-old. The organization said they were taken while on a trip to visit an orphanage.
“Join us in praying for those who are being held hostage, the kidnappers and the families, friends and churches of those affected,” Christian Aid Ministries said in a statement. “As an organization, we commit this situation to God and trust him to see us through.”
An annual report issued last year by Christian Aid Ministries said its American staffers had returned to their base in Haiti after a nine-month absence “due to political unrest,” adding that there were “uncertainty and difficulties” that arise from such instability.
Nearly a year ago, Haitian police issued a wanted poster for the alleged leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, Wilson Joseph, on charges including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, auto theft and the hijacking of trucks carrying goods.
He goes by the nickname “Lanmo Sanjou,” which means “death does not know which day it is coming.”
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