(SeaPRwire) – By: Marcus Sinclair
Haiti’s gang crisis crossed a dangerous line this week. James Boyard, Defense Ministry chief of staff, was taken from a “safe” Port-au-Prince neighborhood. This isn’t just another ransom grab. It’s an attack on the last shreds of state authority. Gangs now target the heart of Haiti’s security apparatus without fear.
Boyard is a respected security expert and national police inspector general. He was abducted Thursday along with his wife and 6-year-old daughter, a US citizen. A ransom was demanded, and investigators suspect Ti Bwa gang leader Christ-Roi Chery. Haiti has spiraled into violence since President Jovenel Moise’s 2021 assassination. Gangs control most of Port-au-Prince, block highways and ports, and derail elections. The Kenyan-led UN mission deployed in 2024 secured the palace but made little other progress. A new 5,550-strong Gang Suppression Force was authorized last autumn. UN data shows 1.5 million people displaced, over 16,000 killed since 2022. Local groups put the death toll closer to 20,000. Last year, 647 people were kidnapped, including women and children.
The UN’s half-measures haven’t stemmed the violence. The Gang Suppression Force’s “neutralization” mandate lacks teeth without local buy-in. Haiti’s power vacuum will widen if elections are scrapped again. Foreign missions can’t rebuild a state that’s lost control of its streets. Boyard’s kidnapping proves gangs now dare to dismantle state security from within. Without sustained investment in local police training and community trust, Haiti will fully fall to gang rule.
Author bio: Marcus Sinclair, Senior Fellow at the Brussels-based European Geopolitical Security Forum, analyzes Caribbean conflict and state fragility.