Armed men kidnapped James Boyard, cabinet director of Haiti’s Defense Ministry and inspector general of the Haitian National Police (HNP), along with his wife and their six-year-old daughter, a U.S. citizen, while the family sought medical care in Port-au-Prince on Thursday.
#HAITI: On Thursday, a group of heavily armed men kidnapped James Boyard, the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence and a security expert, intercepting him on the road linking Bourdon to Lalue, a route designated as a high-security zone. pic.twitter.com/N1zh5n96fT
— CaribbeanNewsNetwork (@caribbeannewsuk) June 14, 2026
The Miami Herald reported that the family was heading to a doctor for their sick child when they were seized in Raimbol, an area within what it identified as the Beaudoin neighborhood, noted as one of the capital’s last remaining safe havens.
Boyard is the highest-ranking official abducted in Haiti in recent years, the Associated Press reported. Trained in France and the United States, the political scientist was appointed chief of staff to Defense Minister Mario Andrésol in March and had been working to rebuild Haiti’s armed forces and implement police reforms.
The New York Times reported a ransom has been demanded, citing a person familiar with the case.
Haitian authorities have reportedly identified the Ti Bwa gang, an EU-sanctioned group, as a suspect in the abduction. Diego Da Rin, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, told the Associated Press the kidnapping was likely planned in significant detail and may have required inside cooperation from someone close to Boyard’s security detail.
Da Rin said gangs are increasingly operating in formerly safe parts of the capital, with members sometimes posing as police officers to stop drivers at fake checkpoints. He said gangs have also been targeting officials and dual nationals, possibly to extract higher ransoms or deter security forces from attacking gang-controlled areas where hostages are held.
According to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), the crisis remains extremely worrying, with at least 1,642 people killed and 745 others injured in the first quarter of 2026 alone.
Security assessments indicate that more than 90% of Port-au-Prince is now controlled by Viv Ansanm, a powerful gang coalition that the U.S. State Department designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in May 2025.
