An American social media star who traveled to Haiti to interview one of the island's most dangerous gangsters was kidnapped by one of the armed gangs that have taken over the Caribbean nation.
YourFellowArab, whose real name is Addison Pierre Maalouf, arrived in Haiti earlier this month to interview Jimmy "Barbecue" Cerizier, who emerged among the violence and lawlessness as the most feared and powerful gang leader in the country, Haiti 24 Net reported.
Maalouf and a Haitian colleague, Sean Roubens Jean Sacra, were taken captive on March 14 by a group of armed men belonging to the 400 Mawozo gang, the Haitian outlet reported.
Lanmo 100, the leader of the gang, is demanding a $600,000 ransom for Maalouf's return. About $40,000 of that has already been paid, Haiti 24 Net reported.
One of Maalouf's streaming colleagues, Lalem, posted on X late Thursday confirming the kidnapping.
"Tried keeping it private for 2 weeks, but it's getting out everywhere now, Yes Arab has been kidnapped in Haiti and we're working on getting him out. Love yall he'll be out soon," he wrote.
Lalem also posted a video of Maalouf recorded before being taken.
In the video, Maalouf, of Atlanta, said he and his crew had to wait to travel to Port-au-Prince the next day so that they would arrive during daylight because the country was run by gangs.
"All it takes is one stupid gang member holding an AK-47 for one thing to go wrong," he said.
Maalouf, gesturing to the desolate hotel in Cap-Haitien and the empty pool, said he was the only person staying there in the absence of any tourists.
"How many times in your life are you the only person in an entire hotel because the country is completely shut down, nobody should be coming in, and you're a retarded YouTuber," he said.
Before he left for Haiti, Maalouf wrote on X that he was "going on another one of those trips."
"If I die, thanks for watching what I've put out. If I live, all glory to God," he posted March 10.
Fellow YouTube star Miles "Lord Miles" Routledge said he had talked to Maalouf on the kidnapper's phone and that Maalouf is being held in a "cage" on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.
"His location is known," Routledge said.
"There was an attempt to pay the ransom but it went wrong and, truthfully, everyone was out of their depth to help Arab. An exchange went bad / done incorrectly and Arab was not released. Arab is still in excellent spirits," he said.
Maalouf has created a following by interviewing drug cartel kingpins and hitmen.
