American livestreamer allegedly kidnapped, held for ransom in Haiti during trip to meet gang leader ‘Barbecue’

Addison Pierre Maalouf, known as YourFellowArab on YouTube and Twitch, posted about how dangerous the country was shortly before he and his Haitian colleague, Sacra Sean, were allegedly abducted.

According to Haiti24, translated from French to English, the Atlanta-based content creator was kidnapped on March 14 by armed men belonging to a gang known as the 400 Mawozo. They were acting on behalf of Lanmò 100 jou, a gang leader belonging to the Viv Ansanm coalition who made it onto the FBI's most wanted list after kidnapping 17 Christian missionaries in 2021.

He and his Haitian colleague had been travelling from Cap Haïtien in the north to the capital, Port-au-Prince, to interview Barbecue, who is also a member of the coalition.

The perpetrators allegedly demanded a ransom of $600,000, some $40,000 of which has been paid.

Before embarking on the journey, Maalouf acknowledged that he might encounter danger on the island. His social media accounts, to which he posted frequently, have been inactive since March 12.

On Thursday, fellow streamer Lalem confirmed that Maalouf was missing.

“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,” Lalem posted.

"We cannot leave to Port-au-Prince until the morning because it's already 6pm and if we leave right now we'll get there when it's dark ... and that place is entirely run by gangs," Maalouf told his audience in the last video he posted before his disappearance.

He noted that he was the only tourist in his hotel.