Citing police sources, Haitian media report one of Haiti’s violent and powerful gangs was responsible for abducting nine people from the Sainte-Hélène orphanage outside Port-au-Prince.
The victims include a 3-year-old child and the orphanage’s Irish missionary director.
A day earlier, police arrested former Haitian Sen. Nenel Cassy. He was accused by Haiti’s police in February of backing gang members who launched deadly attacks on Kenscoff, a neighborhood 10 kilometers (6 miles) outside Port-au-Prince that is home to much of the nation’s elite.
Kenscoff had been largely untouched by Haiti’s gang violence until February’s attacks in which dozens of people were killed. The neighborhood is now being targeted by gangs that are trying to seize more territory from Haiti’s government.
The police shared photos of the former senator in handcuffs next to heavily armed officers wearing ski masks.
Cassy’s arrest is rare in Haiti — even though members of Haiti’s political and business elite have long been accused of using the country’s gangs as their personal enforcers.
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The U.S. designated Cassy a corrupt foreign actor two years ago. Last month U.S. immigration authorities arrested a former Haitian presidential candidate, Pierre Boulos, for his own alleged ties to Haiti’s gangs.
Gangs control 90% of Haiti’s capital, according to the United Nations, and in recent months they have been launching attacks on previously peaceful communities.
More than 5,600 people were reported killed in Haiti last year, with gang violence leaving more than 1 million people homeless in recent years, according to the U.N. The U.N. recorded 185 victims of kidnapping in Haiti between April and June of this year, and said that gangs commit this crime to “subjugate” people in areas under their control.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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