Haitian Police escorted the Capital Coach Line bus as it entered Haiti from the Dominican Republic. Nevertheless, on Wednesday, 7 June 2023, the bus with 37 passengers and the Dominican driver was kidnapped by members of the armed group 400 Mawozo, the Dominican Embassy in Haiti has confirmed.
Dominican Ambassador to Haiti Faruk Miguel Castillo said the driver is 32-year old Johan Antonio de la Rosa. It was his first trip to Haiti.
El Dia reported that the kidnapping occurred when the bus circulated in Croix-des-Bouquets.
37 passengers were on the bus and of these, nine escaped, according to Le Nouvelliste.
Policemen escort the buses, but this time the bandits bested the police surveillance. Last year the companies that provide the connection between Santo Domingo and Port-au-Prince had stopped their operations after interceptions and kidnappings of passengers, in some cases foreign citizens.
El Dia reports that it is the second time that the Capital Coach Line company bus has been attacked by armed bandits of the 400 Mawozo group that controls the region. Capital Coach Line is a Haitian bus company.
The victims of kidnappings are usually both Haitians and foreigners, and ransoms are demanded that often exceed the annual earnings of an average Haitian.
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
12 June 2023