CAP-HAITIEN, Haiti, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The last 12 Canadian and American missionaries from a group kidnapped in October in Haiti have been released, police said on Thursday, ending an ordeal that brought global attention to the Caribbean nation's growing problem of gang abductions.
The group, which was abducted by a gang known as 400 Mawozo after visiting an orphanage, originally numbered 17 people on a trip organized by Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries (CAM).
Five of the hostages had already been freed in recent weeks, and the final dozen were found by authorities on a mountain called Morne à Cabrit, said police spokesman Garry Derosier.
The 400 Mawozo gang, which controls territory to the east of the capital Port-au-Prince, had said it was seeking a ransom of $1 million for each of the missionaries.
The gang's leader, who goes by the nickname Lanmo Sanjou and has appeared in internet videos wearing a Spider-Man mask, had said he was willing to kill the hostages.
The 400 Mawozo, a self-mocking name that loosely translates to "400 idiots,"started out as local thieves in the Croix-de-Bouquets area east of the capital before growing into one of the country's most feared gangs.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/missionaries-kidnapped-october-by-haitian-gang-have-been-released-police-2021-12-16/