A senior Haitian security official has been kidnapped in the heart of Port-au-Prince, in the latest sign that armed gangs continue to operate freely across the Caribbean nation's capital despite repeated government assurances of progress in restoring order. James Boyard, an inspector general of police, university professor, and chief of staff to Defence Minister Mario Andrésol, was abducted on Thursday along the Bourdon-Lalue corridor, a central artery of the city. His son, who was with him at the time, was also taken by the kidnappers.
The abduction is notable not only for Boyard's seniority — he is regarded as one of Haiti's most important security experts and has been working on reconstruction of the Haitian army and police reform — but also for where it took place. The Bourdon neighbourhood is considered one of the relatively safer areas of Port-au-Prince, a city where gangs are estimated to control roughly 70 percent of territory. Boyard was also under close personal protection, leading security analysts to suspect that the kidnappers received assistance from inside his security detail.
The kidnapping reflects a broader and worsening trend. According to a United Nations report, at least 267 people were abducted in Haiti between December 2025 and February 2026 alone, with incidents increasingly occurring in districts previously considered secure. No single profile of victim has emerged: ordinary residents, business owners, professionals, and senior state officials have all been targeted.
Haiti has been without a president since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, who was shot dead in his bedroom in the summer of 2021. Since then, extreme gang violence has claimed more than 20,000 lives and forced over one million people to flee their homes. An international UN-backed security force is operating alongside the Haitian army in an effort to restore order, but hundreds of armed gangs remain active across the country.
The kidnapping comes as Haiti is also experiencing a rare moment of national pride: the country's football team, the Grenadiers, are making a historic return to the FIFA World Cup 2026. Yet the parallel stories — stadium celebration and street-level terror — underscore the depth of the crisis facing a population that has endured years of compounding instability. The fate of Boyard and his son remained unclear at the time of reporting, with no ransom demand publicly confirmed.