The United States has taken 18 suspects in the 2021 assassination of former Haitian President Jovenel Moise to Florida to face trial, US officials said on Sunday.
The suspects were transported from Haiti to the United States in a military aircraft as part of an ongoing investigation into the killing of Moise, who was shot dead at his private residence in Port-au-Prince on July 7, 2021.
FBI special agent Brett Skiles said the arrests, carried out in multiple locations and involving international cooperation, demonstrated the agency’s continued efforts to bring everyone involved in the plot to justice.
“Today’s multi-location and international arrests underscore the FBI’s continued commitment to bringing all participants in this plot to justice,” Skiles said on X.
Federal prosecutor Jason Reding Quinones also confirmed the transfer, saying, “18 transported in military plane from Haiti to face American justice in the Southern District of Florida.”
“Five years later, we are still bringing defendants before American courts, and we are not finished,” Quinones said, adding that 30 suspects had so far been indicted in connection with the killing.
Among those transferred is Joseph Felix Badio, a former anti-corruption official at Haiti’s Ministry of Justice and one of the main suspects in the investigation, Haitian government and police sources told AFP.
The other suspects are Colombian mercenaries, according to the sources.
Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was closely monitoring the transfer of 17 Colombian citizens from Haiti to the United States.
Bogota said it “did not intervene in the decision or in the process that led to the transfer of its citizens to the United States, a matter that falls under the jurisdiction of the competent authorities of the countries involved.”
In May, four men were convicted by a federal court in Miami on charges including conspiracy to kill or kidnap Moise, conspiracy to provide material support and violating the US Neutrality Act by engaging in an illicit military operation abroad.
The four men face possible life imprisonment.
Federal prosecutors said the men were linked to CTU, a Florida-based private security firm, and had been drawn into the plot by the prospect of securing lucrative contracts following Moise’s removal from office.
Eleven people have already been indicted in US courts over the assassination, which falls under American jurisdiction because parts of the alleged plot were organised on US soil.
Moise, 53, was killed by a group of about 20 military-trained Colombian mercenaries. His security detail did not intervene to protect him.
Haiti has since descended into deeper instability and currently has no president.
The country is preparing to hold its first presidential and legislative elections since 2016, alongside a referendum on the constitution, on December 13, if security conditions permit.
Gangs currently control around 80 per cent of Port-au-Prince, while kidnappings for ransom, armed robbery and carjackings remain widespread.
A United Nations-backed armed force deployed to support Haitian police in tackling the gangs is also not expected to be fully staffed by October as initially planned.
Discussion0