A senior Haitian security official appointed as chief of staff to the new Minister of Defense was abducted Thursday in Port-au-Prince, along with his wife and U.S. citizen 6-year-old daughter, sources confirmed.
James Boyard, a police inspector general and academic at Haiti’s State University, was targeted by unidentified assailants who reportedly demanded a ransom.
Christo-Roi Chéry, better known as Chrisla—a leader of the Ti Bwa gang under European Union sanctions—is suspected of orchestrating the attack, according to Haitian police authorities.
The Ti Bwa gang, notorious for controlling key infrastructure and extorting citizens, exemplifies the systemic violence plaguing the nation.
Mr. Boyard, a respected security expert and author, now serves as chief of staff to Mario Andrésol, Haiti’s freshly appointed Defense Minister.
Haiti’s ongoing crisis, exacerbated by post-2021 President Moïse assassination violence, has enabled armed factions to monopolize transportation routes, ports, and residential areas.
Over 1.5 million people have been displaced due to violence since 2022, with UN figures estimating 16,000 conflict-related deaths in the same period.
Kidnapping remains a widespread tactic, with gangs seizing individuals from vehicles or public transit for ransom demands.
In 2023 alone, at least 647 people were kidnapped, including women and children, as documented by the United Nations.
Recent U.S.-backed efforts have established a multi-national gang suppression unit aiming to expand to 5,500 personnel to combat escalating violence.
The turmoil has derailed summer elections, officials stated, with no immediate resolution in sight.
