U.S. shifts focus to Haiti gang leader 'Izo;' FBI drops Vitel'homme from wanted list

Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald on Feb 19, 2026

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U.S. authorities have issued a new $1 million bounty for a Haitian gang leader. This time their focus is on Johnson “Izo” André, the brash 20-something year-old leader of one of Haiti’s most well-armed criminal armed groups, the 5 Segond/5 Segonn gang.

André, widely known as “Izo,” is being targeted for his alleged role in the March 18, 2023, kidnapping of a U.S. citizen in Port-au-Prince. The hostage was taken on orders from the gang leader after he asked members to identify victims and take them hostage for ransom, the State Department says. 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 was paid. Payment included the victim’s vehicle,and firearms belonging to the victim’s father. In December 2024, André’ was charged in a criminal complaint in the District of Colombia in connection with the ransom kidnapping.

“André remains at large and is believed to reside in Village de Dieu,” the State Department said.

The reward of up to $1 million “for information leading to the identification, location, arrest or conviction” of André, is being offered by Rewards for Justice, a State Department program. The gang leader and his criminal group are involved cocaine-trafficking as well. Their reach extends from the southern outskirts of Port-au-Prince to its northern entrance to include the rural town of Cabaret and the settlement of Canaan.

André and 5 Segond, members of the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition, which has been designated as a foreign terrorist by the U.S., are also responsible for 1,035 documented cases of sexual violence, the State Department said.

Since December, Haitian security forces, helped by a weaponized drone task force and Kenyan-led foreign cops, have been bombing neighborhoods considered to be the strongholds of armed groups that control up to 90% of the capital. The intensified operations have not led to the capture of any major gang leaders, but have forced many to retreat and relocate while limiting their presence on social media out of fears drones will be able to detect their whereabouts.

That includes André, the latest in a string of Haiti-based gang leaders targeted by U.S. authorities. One of them, Vitel’homme Innocent, who had a $2 million bounty on his head, has been removed from the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list.

In a statement explaining Innocent’s removal, the FBI said although he “remains at large, he no longer fits established criteria for continued inclusion” on the list. One of the criteria for placement is the need for publicity to aid in the location and capture of the fugitive.

“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. The agency acknowledged that “extensive investigation, as well as continued media exposure from 2023 to the present, has not resulted in the arrest of the gang leader, the 15th fugitive to be removed from the list since 1950 prior to apprehension, death or the dismissal of charges.

While Innocent was removed from the FBI’s most-wanted, the agency said the “the active investigation intended to apprehend him will continue.” The gang leader, and his Kraze Barye gang, control areas around the U.S. Embassy in Tabarre. In post on X last month, FBI Director Kash Patel erroneously claimed that Innocent had been captured.

André is one of the most recognizable of the gang leaders. He has been repeatedly shut down by social media platforms, where he showcases his musical ambitions while taunting police and government authorities. During a February 2024 gang siege that culminated in a prison break at Haiti’s two largest prisons, he claimed responsibility and threatened a takeover of the National Palace as he flew his drone over its grounds. Soon after he openly declared himself a cartel leader.

In December 2023, he was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for his role in serious human-rights abuses, including the kidnapping of U.S. citizens, assassination, possession of illegal firearms, hijacking and sexual violence. The crimes have also made him a wanted fugitive by the Haiti National Police.