Kidnappings are rising again in Haiti as the country prepares for its first general elections in a decade, with gangs targeting prominent people and carrying out mass abductions, the Associated Press reported.

At least 81 people were reported kidnapped between April and June, 42% more than in the first quarter of the year, according to United Nations figures. Among them is James Boyard, police inspector general and chief of staff at the Defense Ministry, who was taken in broad daylight in June in Bourdon, a Port-au-Prince neighborhood considered relatively safe. He has not been released.

Local media have also reported the kidnapping of attorney Caleb Jean-Baptiste and of Stéphanie Paultre, director general of the National Office for Educational Partnerships. In mid-September, attorney Dorime Boulos held a rare press conference to announce a fundraiser to free Jean-Baptiste. “We don't have the amount they're asking for,” he said.

“Elections act as accelerators,” said Romain Le Cour, head of the Haiti Observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. He said gangs are using official or cloned police uniforms, vehicles and license plates, and are striking areas considered safe. “No one is out of reach,” he said.

UN counts show how the problem has grown: 78 reported kidnappings in 2019, 234 in 2020, 655 in 2021, 1,359 in 2022 and 2,490 in 2023. The figure was 2,058 in 2024 and fell to 1,268 in 2025 before rising again this year. The real numbers are believed to be much higher, because most families do not report abductions.

This summer, gangs attacking Kenscoff killed at least 164 people and kidnapped more than 70. Six children and seven women have been released. In late September, gangs in Petite-Rivière held hundreds of civilians hostage for two days after police arrested gang members. At least eight people were killed and 10 injured, said Bertide Horace, spokesperson for a local dialogue commission in the Artibonite.

Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé says restoring security is a top priority, and the national police announced in late September that nearly a dozen officers have been trained to negotiate with kidnappers. The UN-backed Gang Suppression Force has almost 1,600 personnel, a number likely to double soon, said Daniela Kroslak, head of the UN Support Office in Haiti.