A high-ranking Haitian government security official recently chosen to serve as chief of staff to the Minister of Defense was kidnapped Thursday along with his wife and 6-year-old daughter who is a U.S. citizen, two people familiar with the case confirmed.

James Boyard, a police inspector general and a professor at the State University of Haiti, was abducted in Port-au-Prince, the capital. A person familiar with the case said that a ransom had been requested.

A gang leader named Christ-Roi Chéry, known as Chrisla, who is the leader of the Ti Bwa gang, is believed responsible, according to the Haitian police. A spokesman for the Haitian police said he did not have more information about the case.

The Ti Bwa gang, under sanction by the European Union, is one of the many armed groups in Haiti that exert strict control over the local population, including by operating illegal tollbooths and otherwise extorting the public.

Mr. Boyard, a well-regarded security expert and author of two books, is the chief of staff to Mario Andrésol, Haiti’s newly appointed Minister of Defense.

Haiti has been in a spiral of violence for several years, particularly since the assassination in 2021 of its president, Jovenel Moïse. Armed groups that control major highways, ports and entire communities have prevented officials from holding elections.

A coalition of gangs have taken control of large areas of the capital, emptying neighborhoods and occasionally closing the airport for months at a time. Nearly 1.5 million people fleeing violence have been displaced from their homes and more than 16,000 people have been killed since 2022, according to the United Nations.

Kidnapping is also common in Haiti. At least 647 people, including women and children, were kidnapped last year, according to a U.N. report.

Gangs abduct people from their cars or buses and hold them for ransom. Ransoms vary widely and are typically much higher for foreigners. Last year, five UNICEF employees were held for three weeks.

The U.S. government recently helped form a gang suppression unit aimed at curbing the violence. The force is expected to grow to 5,500 with soldiers from countries around the world.

Elections that had been scheduled for later this summer are unlikely to be held because of the steady violence, officials have said.