Haiti Gang Demands $17 Million to Release US and Canadian Missionaries

Armed police ride in the back of a truck after the streets of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince were deserted following a call for a general strike launched by several professional associations and companies to denounce insecurity in Port-au-Prince on Oct. 18, 2021. Richard Pierrin/AFP via Getty Images

A notorious Haitian gang accused of abducting 17 missionaries, most of them Americans, demanded $17 million in ransom for the kidnapped individuals’ release, according to multiple reports.

Haitian Justice Minister Liszt Quitel said the gang dubbed “400 Mawozo” demands $1 million per person in order to set the missionaries free, the Wall Street Journal reported, which quoted Quitel as saying.