US issues $1 million reward for capture of Haitian gang leader
WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) – The United States authorities have issued a US$1 million reward for Haitian gang leader Johnson “Izo” André, even as the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has removed another Haitian gang leader, Vitel’ Homme Innocent, from its “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list.
Innocent had a $2 million bounty on his head, and the FBI said although he “remains at large, he no longer fits established criteria for continued inclusion” on the list.
“Innocent has been located in Haiti, therefore his continued placement on the (list) is not expected to result in any additional information that would lead to his capture,” the FBI said, adding that “extensive investigation, as well as continued media exposure from 2023 to the present, has not resulted in the arrest of the gang leader”.
But the US law enforcement authorities said that while Innocent has been removed from the wanted list, “the active investigation intended to apprehend him will continue”.
The FBI is seeking to apprehend André, said to be in his 20s, and who is affiliated with one of Haiti’s most well-armed criminal armed groups, the 5 Segond/5 Segonn gang.
André, widely known as Izo, is being sought for his alleged role in the March 18, 2023, kidnapping of a United States citizen in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.
The State Department said the US national was taken on orders from the gang leader. It said the hostage was then held in Village de Dieu, a seaside slum south of the capital that serves as the gang leader’s base of operations and a kidnapping lair.
The hostage was released on March 27, 2023, after a ransom that included the victim’s vehicle, and firearms belonging to the victim’s father, was paid.
In December 2024, André was charged in a criminal complaint in the District of Columbia in connection with the ransom kidnapping.
“André remains at large and is believed to reside in Village de Dieu,” the State Department said, adding that André and his criminal group are involved in cocaine-trafficking as well.
The State Department said that André and 5 Segond are members of the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition, which has been designated as a foreign terrorist group by the United States. They are also said to be responsible for 1,035 documented cases of sexual violence.
