Seventeen people, North American missionaries and their families, were kidnapped Saturday, October 16, at midday, by a gang in the eastern suburbs of Port-au-Prince as they left an orphanage . Local officials said the kidnapped group included sixteen Americans and one Canadian, all members of a religious charity Christian Aid Ministries, a Christian movement founded in 1981 in Ohio by Amish and Mennonites.
The gang called “400 Mawozo” hijacked several vehicles from a highway, kidnapping five men, seven women and five children, as well as an as yet unknown number of Haitian citizens. In April, ten people including seven members of the Catholic clergy, five Haitian clergymen as well as a French nun and a priest, were also kidnapped by this gang in the same area located about fifteen kilometers from the center of the capital. A ransom of $ 1 million (831,000 euros) was allegedly demanded by the kidnappers. Released after twenty days of captivity, Father Michel Briand had explained to AFP that they had “Found in the wrong place at the wrong time”, specifying that his captors had told him that they had created their gang thanks to the funding of former elected officials of Haiti.
The extended power of armed gangs
The armed bands, which for years have controlled the poorest districts of the Haitian capital, have largely extended their power over Port-au-Prince and its surroundings, where they are increasing the number of villainous kidnappings. According to several sources, they now control half of the capital and its main accesses. More than 600 kidnappings were recorded from January to September 2021, including 29 concerning foreigners, against 231 during the same period in 2020. Gangs have long avoided the kidnapping of American citizens, for fear of reprisals from the state government -United, making Saturday’s kidnapping all the more spectacular.
The “400 Mawozo” gang is one of the most dangerous armed gangs in the country and one of the first to engage in mass kidnappings. It controls part of the eastern region of the capital including the Croix-des-Bouquets agglomeration, which has become a quasi-ghost town. Feared for his kidnappings of businessmen and police officers, his sordid rapes of women and young girls, “400 Mawozo” would also have organized the assassination on Tuesday of sculptor Anderson Belony. The artist was also known for his social commitment in this area.
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