On Saturday, October 16th, a missionary group consisting of 17 people was kidnapped by a gang called 400 Mawazo. The group consisted of 16 Americans and one Canadian that included five children and an eight-month-old baby. A text message by one of the missionaries was sent on Whatsapp which said “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 group was heading home when the gang took the wheel. During that day, the gang also abducted a Haitian university professor. Police forces are still looking for the missionaries. 

Initially, the gang demanded $1 million per person, which gives a total of $17 million. If the ransom was not received, the group threatened to eliminate the missionaries without guilt.  On October 22, 2021, gang leader Wilson Joseph posted a video. He was dressed in a blue suit, carrying a blue hat, and wearing a large cross over his neck. He threatened Haiti’s national police chief as he spoke in front of some coffins that held victims that were targeted. Prime Minister Ariel Henry was also threatened who made a statement, saying “We would like for public peace to be restored, that we return to normal life and that we regain our way to democracy,” 

400 Mawazo is known as a dangerous group in Haiti. They are said to engage in mass kidnappings that involve victims in carloads. In April, it was reported the gang kidnapped five priests and two nuns. The leader of 400 Mawazo stated, “I swear by thunder that if I don’t get what I’m asking for, I will put a bullet in the heads of these Americans.” The gang seems to target people from the church, religious people. Haiti is facing an increase in gang violence because of how many young men are joining. Many state the Christian Church is the target for kidnapping. A victim described how badly he was treated when he got kidnapped. “You can try to talk to these people, to give them nice speeches,” he said, his shoulder-length hair tucked behind his ears and his wooden cross hanging down his chest. “But we will never get these people back. Morally, they are lost.”