Matt Bush, FISM News

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The 400 Mawozo gang in Haiti has struck again with another mass kidnapping involving foreign nationals. This time, 17 people were kidnapped from a tourist bus including 8 Turkish nationals, 8 Haitians, and a driver from the Dominican Republic.

The group of Turkish and Haitian nationals were in Haiti after crossing over from the Dominican Republic and were kidnapped in the same area as a Dominican diplomat was kidnapped just a week ago. The Diplomat, Carlos Guillen Tatis, was released four days after his abduction.

As FISM reported in October the 400 Mawozo gang kidnapped 16 American missionaries including children before they found freedom nearly two months after they had been abducted in a story that had gripped the nation. That same gang has been involved in numerous highly publicized kidnappings and recently had been involved in a turf war with a rival gang causing upheaval in the Caribbean nation.

Some news sources are describing the 8 Turkish nationals as “missionaries” while others refer to them as “education ambassadors.” Regardless of their purpose for being in Haiti, the brazenness of the gangs in Haiti is growing more and more evident.

According to Haiti’s Center for Analysis and Research on Human Rights, more than 1,200 people were kidnapped in the country last year, and the number of people kidnapped in Haiti increased dramatically in the first quarter of 2022. Those numbers make Haiti’s kidnapping rate the highest in the western hemisphere. In 2021 the nation held the highest rate in the world.

The 400 Mawozo gang has conducted a kidnapping for-profit business on the island, asking for ransom payments for their kidnapping victims and releasing their captives when those ransoms are received. No ransom demand has been reported yet for the Turkish nationals, as details are just emerging. 

FISM will continue to provide updates as they become available.