Abduction of senior security official in Port-au-Prince
Armed men have kidnapped James Boyard, director of cabinet at the Ministry of Defence and inspector general of the Haitian national police, in the capital besieged by criminal gangs.
Abduction of senior security official in Port-au-Prince
Armed men abducted James Boyard, director of cabinet at Haiti's Ministry of Defence and inspector general of the national police, a source close to the matter confirmed to the Associated Press on Saturday.
The operation took place on Thursday in the Bourdon district, one of the few areas of Port-au-Prince still considered relatively safe. Boyard, who is also a political scientist, was responsible for the reconstruction of the Haitian armed forces and participated in the evaluation and reform of the national police.
This is the first abduction of an official of this rank in the Caribbean nation in several years. Approximately 70 per cent of the capital is controlled by the gang coalition "Viv Ansanm", which was classified as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States in May 2025.
The identity of the abductors remains unknown and no ransom demand has been confirmed. Diego Da Rin, analyst at the Group for the Study and Reduction of International Crises, noted that a person of this level normally has extensive security measures in place. He suggested that the abduction could have been prepared with the help of someone close to this security detail.
Abductions are increasing in areas previously spared, with gangsters sometimes using police uniforms to conduct fake operations. According to a United Nations report, at least 267 people were abducted between December 2025 and February 2026, compared with 1,268 in 2025, representing a decrease of nearly 40 per cent from the previous year.
Source: Associated Press
Source: Google News MT