Haitian gang chief Vitel’homme Harmless has been added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) ‘Ten Most Needed Fugitives’ listing.
The FBI in Miami introduced Wednesday that there’s now a $2 million reward for data resulting in the arrest of the 37-year-old.
Harmless was indicted for allegedly main a gang that helped within the 2021 armed hostage-taking of 16 Christian missionaries serving close to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Most have been held captive for 61 days earlier than escaping. The group included 5 youngsters, one as younger as eight months outdated on the time of the kidnapping.
The US Division of Justice had earlier launched the indictment towards Harmless for “conspiracy to commit hostage taking leading to demise, and different expenses.”
In one other indictment unsealed in October 2023, Harmless is alleged to have participated in a second hostage-taking incident wherein one US citizen was killed.
Officers say Marie Odette Franklin was allegedly shot and killed by the gang members. Her husband was allegedly taken into captivity and held at an undisclosed location in Haiti. Whereas Jean Franklin was in captivity, Vitel’Homme allegedly participated in ransom negotiations in trade for his launch.
On October 28, 2022, Jean Franklin was launched from captivity following ransom funds made to the gang on behalf of his household.
“The USA helps the efforts of our Haitian regulation enforcement companions to implement rule of regulation in Haiti and fight transnational organised crime,” stated the State Division.
“The State Division is providing a reward of as much as $2,000,0000 for data resulting in his arrest and/or conviction. Our resolve to carry him to account for his alleged crimes won’t waver. I need to thank the State Departments Diplomatic Safety Service and the US Lawyer’s Workplace for the District of Columbia for his or her shut cooperation and partnership investigating these instances.”
The FBI stated Harmless is believed to be in Haiti, however has ties to different Caribbean nations.
The rise within the reward for Harmless comes a couple of days after Iskar Andrice, a strong gang chief in Haiti, who was often called a former math and physics trainer, was killed in a neighbourhood inside a sprawling seaside slum that he managed.
The precise date of his demise stays unclear, however his demise has raised considerations of an escalation in gang violence within the nation.
Media reviews stated that Andrice led a ruthless gang concerned in a big selection of felony actions, together with homicide, theft, extortion, rape, and hijacking. He joined forces with infamous gang chief Jimmy Chérizier, often called Barbecue, turning into a key determine within the “G9 Household and Allies” alliance, Haiti’s largest and most potent gang group.
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