The leader of a Haitian gang that kidnapped 17 American and Canadian missionaries on the eastern outskirts of Port-au-Prince last October was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia.
Germine Joly, 29, who is better known as “Yonyon,” was charged with conspiracy to commit hostage taking for his role in the armed kidnapping of 16 U.S. citizens in Haiti. The victims, including five children, were Christian missionaries serving in Haiti. Most of them were held captive for 61 days by the gang 400 Mawozo. The gang’s No. 2 demanded $1 million in ransom per victim and threatened to kill the missionaries, who worked for Ohio-based Christian Aid Missionaries, if the ransom was not paid. An undisclosed ransom was eventually paid.
Joly was transferred to the United States last week from a Haitian prison on an international arrest warrant in connection to firearms trafficking in a separate case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He has since been detained in the District of Columbia and is scheduled to return to court next week for an arraignment.
Federal prosecutors said that during the Americans’ captivity, Joly was in regular contact with other 400 Mawozo gang leaders about the hostages’ kidnapping, captivity and ransom. He directed gang members and “asserted influence and control over the gang’s operations.” This included participating in ransom negotiations.
“One of the gang’s stated goals in holding the hostages captive was to secure from the Haitian government the defendant’s release from prison in Haiti,” the indictment said.
The missionaries, which included a Canadian, were kidnapped on Oct. 16 as they were returning from visiting an orphanage.
“This case shows that the Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to track down anyone who kidnaps a U.S. citizen abroad,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “We will utilize the full reach of our law enforcement authorities to hold accountable anyone responsible for undermining the safety of Americans anywhere in the world.”
Federal Bureau of Investigations Director Christopher Wray added: “Today’s indictment demonstrates that the United States will not tolerate crime against our citizens, here or abroad.”
Wray also said the agency “will continue to work aggressively with our international partners to keep our citizens safe and bring perpetrators to justice.”
Joly’s 400 Mawozo gang is known for its mass abductions, grabbing people by the bus and carloads and extorting local businesses. Last week, a Dominican diplomat, who also was a U.S. citizen, was kidnapped by the gang and held for four days. He was finally released hours after Joly’s arrival in the U.S.
But the high-profile kidnappings have continued unabated in recent days. The abduction of a doctor on Thursday, led the St. Luke Foundation to announce the closure of its two medical facilities, St. Damien Pediatric Hospital and St. Luc Hospital to maternity, pediatric and COVID-19 patients to demand her release.
On Sunday, eight Turkish citizens were among several people traveling on a bus coming out of the neighboring Dominican Republic who were kidnapped in the Croix-des-Bouquets neighborhood. The sprawling suburb east of Port-au-Prince is a stronghold of 400 Mawozo, which two days after the U.S. requested Joly’s transfer launched an armed attack against a rival gang.
The United Nations said at least 75 people have died as a result of the armed conflict, and at least 65 were injured. The shootings and torching of homes have also forced at least 9,000 Haitians to abandon their homes in the surrounding communities. The escalating armed gang violence has also forced the closure of almost 1,700 schools throughout the metropolitan Port-au-Prince area, UNICEF said.
“Families, women and children are afraid to leave their house, children are afraid to go to school. No child can go to school while bullets are flying in the air, it is unsafe and this cannot be,” says Bruno Maes, UNICEF Representative in Haiti.
Escalating gang violence in Port-au-Prince has prompted Haitians to protest in the streets in recent days to demand that gangs give the country a chance.
In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., urged the Biden administration to prioritize efforts to help stabilize Haiti’s security situation.
“We represent many Haitian-American families throughout hard-working communities that are very concerned with the ongoing political instability and the increasing gang violence in their home country,” the senators wrote. “Many of our constituents have families and businesses in Haiti and are unable to travel due to the prevalence of violence, especially with the increase in kidnappings. American businesses operating in Haiti have communicated that the situation is so dire that they are looking at moving their business outside of Haiti …. If left unchecked, the mass departure of U.S. and international businesses and humanitarian organizations could drastically worsen Haiti’s already dire economic straits.”
Joly, who ran the gang from behind bars, is among several high-profile individuals the U.S. has set its sights on as it steps up efforts to go after alleged wrong-doers in a gang-ridden Haiti.
Last month, a convicted Haitian cocaine smuggler, Jean Eliobert Jasme, also known as “Eddy One, was brought to the U.S. to face narcotics charges in federal court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He’s accused of conspiring with two Haitian police officers to smuggle cocaine from Colombia through Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas into the United States.
On Monday, federal agents followed up by bringing one of the Haiti National Police officers, Alex Monpremier, to the U.S. to stand trial. Monpremier was flown out of Port-au-Prince at about 10 a.m.
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