The gang behind the kidnapping of 17 American and Canadian missionaries in Haiti has demanded a ransom of up to $1million for each person, the country's justice minister said on Tuesday.
Liszt Quitel, Haiti's Minister of Interior and Local Authorities, said in a phone interview that 'the demand was made to the country chief of the Christian Aid Ministries' and that the 400 Mawozo gang had 'asked for $1 million per person,' referring to the Christian aid group whose members were kidnapped.
'Often these gangs know these demands cannot be met and they will consider a counter offer from the families, and the negotiations can take a couple of days sometimes, or a couple of weeks.'
Quitel added that the gang did not give any indication of a deadline for the payment.
The captives are missionaries from the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries and include five children, the youngest just two years old. They were forced out of a bus at gunpoint after visiting an orphanage on Saturday in the suburbs of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The 400 Mawozo gang (pictured) with leader Wilson Joseph, aka Lanmò San Jou or 'Death Without Days' (pictured in front) is behind the kidnapping of 17 US and Canadian missionaries in Haiti and demands a ransom of up to $1 million per head
Groups that follow kidnappings in Haiti believe they are being held in the town of Croix-des-Bouquets, which is controlled by the notorious 400 Mawozo gang.
Authorities suspect the missionaries were snatched by the gang, whose thugs have abducted dozens of people already this year, including foreign nationals. In recent months, 400 Mawozo has targeted clergy members and other Christian worshippers.
Gèdèon Jean, the executive director of the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights, an advocacy group in Port-au-Prince, told the The New York Times that the kidnappers could ask as much as $1 million per hostage in ransom for each of the 17.
'The hostages are going to be freed - that's for sure. We don't know in how many days, but they're going to negotiate,' Jean said.
'The 400 Mawozo gang don't want to kill the hostages. Nowadays the gangs, especially in a situation that is a little financially vulnerable, they increase kidnappings to have enough money.
'So the motive behind the surge in kidnappings for us is a financial one, if the gangs need money to buy ammunition, to get weapons, to be able to function.'
Authorities on Sunday night said they were trying to negotiate with Joly 'Yonyon' Germine, a jailed gang member considered to be the second-in-command of 400 Mawozo.
Gang leader Wilson Joseph (pictured) is wanted by Haitian police on numerous charges including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, auto theft and the hijacking of trucks carrying goods
The widely-feared group, whose name loosely translates to '400 inexperienced men,' is responsible for approximately 80 percent of the kidnappings in Haiti and is often associated with 'collective kidnappings' in which they abduct entire cars or buses of people.
The gang's leader Wilson Joseph, aka Lanmò San Jou or 'Death Without Days' - who is wanted by Haitian police on numerous charges including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, auto theft and the hijacking of trucks carrying goods - is known for touting the gang's crimes on social media.
Members are known to use rape, assassination and abduction, among other methods, to maintain their hold on Haiti's streets, businesses and power players.
A senior U.S. official, speaking to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, said the government is in touch with Haitian authorities to try to resolve the case.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department on Sunday evening confirmed the kidnapping of 16 US missionaries and one Canadian in Haiti, as hostage negotiators were summoned.
The missionaries - who belong to the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries, an extremely well-funded global organization founded by Amish and Mennonites in 1981 - were abducted Saturday from a bus headed to the airport to drop off some members of their party.
A person familiar with the situation claimed one of the abducted Americans posted a cry for help in a WhatsApp group as the kidnapping was occurring.
'Please pray for us!! We are being held hostage, they kidnapped our driver. Pray pray pray. We don't know where they are taking us,' the abductee wrote.
The missionaries were traveling from the Croix des Bouquets area, where they had been building an orphanage, to the Port-au-Prince airport. They were abducted near Carrefour Boen and La Tremblay 17 on the road to Ganthier
The 17 missionaries work for the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries, an extremely well-funded global organization founded by Amish and Mennonites in 1981
In a statement Sunday on its website, Christian Aid Ministries said: 'Join us in praying for those who are being held hostage, the kidnappers and the families, friends and churches of those affected.
'We request urgent prayer for the group of Christian Aid Ministries workers who were abducted while on a trip to visit an orphanage on Saturday, October 16. We are seeking God's direction for a resolution, and authorities are seeking ways to help.'
Dan Hooley, a former director for the group, said that some of the missionaries had not been in Haiti for long.
One family had lived there for 'a couple of months,' he told The Times, and another man had arrived on Friday to work on a relief project related to an earthquake that struck in August.
He described Christian Aid Ministries as 'the big dog in the mission world,' capable of importing containers full of medicines into Haiti whereas others 'just can't get it done.'
The group was founded in 1981 'to be a trustworthy and efficient channel for Amish, Mennonite, and other conservative Anabaptist groups and individuals to minister to physical and spiritual needs around the world.'
It reported a revenue of more than $130 million in 2019, largely through donations, and operates in 126 countries.
It is unclear if the kidnapping victims were chosen because of the mission's net worth, although Haiti has one of the highest rates of kidnapping in the world, with middle class members of the public often targeted by gangs in the hope of a small ransom.
Christian Aid Missionaries' balance sheet shows the group has $87 million in assets as of December 2020
The missionaries were traveling along the road from Ganthier to Croix-des-Bouquets when they were seized. Croix-des-Bouquets is known to be under the control of the 400 Mawozo gang (pictured)
Authorities on Sunday night said they were trying to negotiate with the gang. The executive director of the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights, an advocacy group in Port-au-Prince, said: 'The hostages are going to be freed - that's for sure. We don't know in how many days, but they're going to negotiate'
In a statement on its website, Christian Aid Ministries published a prayer request reading: 'Join us in praying for those who are being held hostage, the kidnappers and the families, friends and churches of those affected'
Haiti has the highest per-capita kidnapping rate in the world, with Port-au-Prince now seeing more kidnappings than vastly larger Bogota, Mexico City and Sao Paulo combined, according to the consulting firm Control Risks.
From January to September 2021, there were 628 people kidnapped, including 29 foreigners, according to a New York Times analysis.
Haiti last experienced a major surge in kidnappings and gang violence
