Haitian gang leader charged with ordering kidnapping of US couple that left woman dead

FILE - The Justice Department in Washington, Nov. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

A powerful Haitian gang leader has been charged by U.S. prosecutors with ordering the kidnapping of an American couple from their home in Haiti, which left the woman dead, authorities said Tuesday. Vitel'Homme Innocent — who remains at large and is believed to be living in Tabarre, Haiti — was also charged last year in the 2021 kidnappings of Christian missionaries. The charges are considered largely symbolic in Haiti, where gangs are more powerful than the government and have bigger and better weapons than the police.