The FBI urged Americans to avoid traveling to Haiti on Tuesday amid the Caribbean nation’s spike in kidnappings and violence.

The agency’s Miami Field Office said that Haiti has witnessed a 300% increase in kidnappings so far this year, according to the Miami Herald, with the message specifically directed at residents of South Florida. 

“While we understand that there are strong ties between Haiti and South Florida, before traveling there one should consider the trauma and financial costs of being kidnapped not only to themselves but to their family and friends as well,” said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Liz Santamaria.

A Haitian-American couple was kidnapped last month when they traveled to the country to visit sick family members in Leogan, according to Miami NBC affiliate WTVJ. The couple was abducted by a gang and family in Florida said they were held for a $200,000 ransom. 

The couple was freed and returned home last week. but the conditions of their release have not been disclosed.  

The FBI’s notice follows an existing State Department Travel Advisory that warns of “kidnapping, crime, and civil unrest” in the country.

The nongovernmental organization National Human Rights Defense Network said in a Monday report that “raids, sporadic armed attacks, and massacres against the Haitian population have intensified in the country” since the beginning of the year.

Nearly 150 people were killed in a conflict between rival gangs from Feb. 28 to March 5, according to the organization, and several dozen women and girls have been victims of gang rapes.

Vigilantism has also become more prevalent. Haitians unaffiliated with gangs lynched and burned 13 suspected gang members alive on Monday as the group traveled through a neighborhood in the capital of Port-au-Prince, according to the Herald.

Fox News Digital reported that criminal gangs have taken over 60% of Port-au-Prince since President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination in July 2021.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.