in haiti. the message reads please pray for us, we are being harassed, kidnapped currently. they have control of our vehicle with about 15 americans right now. ladies, men, and children. he then says they are near the place a source in haiti s security forces confirms is where the group was abducted. 12 adults, along with five children, according to christian aid ministries. and we re learning more about the gang who may be behind the crime. our source saying it s the 400 mawozo gang. one of, if not the most, powerful in the country, its dozens of members with a distinct hallmark, kidnapping. nearly a year ago, the gang s alleged leader said, me, i work. i m a gangster, i carry weapons. i m in a gang, i have guns. i don t carry weapons to terrorize. carrying weapons doesn t make me a gangster or a bandit. several miles down that road there is where our source says this kidnapping was carried out and in a more normal situation, we would drive several miles down that road and go see ex
the message reads please pray for us, we are being harassed, kidnapped currently. they have control of our vehicle with about 15 americans right now. ladies, men, and children. he then says they are near the place a source in haiti s security forces confirms is where the group was abducted. 12 adults, along with five children according to christian aid ministries. and we are learning more about the gang who may be behind the crime. our source saying it s the 400 mawozo gang. one of, if not the most, powerful in the country, its dozens of members with a distinct hallmark, kidnapping. nearly a year ago, the gang s alleged leader said me, i work, i m a gangster, i carry weapons. i m in a gang, i have guns. i don t carry weapons to terrorize. carrying weapons doesn t make me a gangster or a bandit. several miles down that road there is where our source says this kidnapping was carried out in a more normal situation, we would drive several miles down that road and go see exactly
department says that they have all efforts right now, working with the canadian authorities to get these 17 people released and released safely and quickly, jose. so yamiche, what has been the white house response so far? well, the white house press secretary has said that the president, president biden, was briefed on this situation. they are following it very, very closely. the white house doesn t want to give too many more details, but we know that the official stance of the u.s. government has been that they do not pay ransoms, because they don t want to encourage other groups, other terrorist groups, other gangs from kidnapping people. and let s remember that in haiti, the kidnappings there have spiked some 200 to 300%, as insecurity in that country has become more and more tenuous. so what you have here, though, is this gang, 400 mawozo, and it really is this gang that has become notorious for kidnapping people. they have been focusing mainly on haitian americans, but now the
but following the advice of both our haitian producer and our security team, we are not going to go any further than this because they say it s not safe. down that road is the suburb which is essentially completely controlled by the 400 mawozo gang. the gang that authorities say carried out this kidnapping. that gang and others have terrorized haiti for years with kidnappings exploding since january, according to a human rights nonprofit based in port-au-prince. foreigners get the attention but it s ordinary haitians that are the vast majority of kidnapping victims, data from the organization shows. this man says kidnappings here have been happening for so long, why did no one talk about it then? why is the world making such a big deal about foreigners? it s because they re more important. on monday, haitians across the capital region took advantage of the renewed attention by staying home. schools and businesses and transport services shut down. normally packed port-au-prince streets