The man accused of leading a notorious Haitian gang was charged Tuesday with orchestrating the kidnapping of 17 members of a U.S.-based missionary organization last year.
Joly Germine, 29, was indicted by a federal grand jury, accused of directing and controlling the operation, including the 400 Mawozo gang’s ransom demands. The Haitian government transferred Germine to U.S. custody last week, and he has been detained in Washington, D.C., federal authorities said.
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The missionaries from the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries — 16 Americans and one Canadian — went to Haiti last year to help rebuild roads, restore houses and install water systems following a disastrous earthquake in August. After leaving an orphanage outside the capital Port-au-Prince in October, they were captured by armed gang members, taken to a small house and relocated several times.
