US arrests 18 suspects in killing of Haitian president

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Eighteen suspects in the 2021 assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise have been transported to Florida to stand trial, US officials said Sunday.

Moise, 53, was gunned down on July 7, 2021, at his private residence by a hired group of about 20 military-trained Colombian mercenaries. His security detail did not intervene to protect him.

"Today's multi-location and international arrests underscore the FBI's continued commitment to bringing all participants in this plot to justice," FBI special agent Brett Skiles said on X.

In the same post, federal prosecutor Jason Reding Quinones said: "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 wrote, adding that 30 suspects have thus far been indicted in the killing.

In May, four men were convicted in a federal court in Miami of charges including conspiracy to kill or kidnap Moise, conspiracy to provide material support and violating the US Neutrality Act to engage in an illicit military operation abroad.

The men face possible sentences of life in prison.

All four were linked to CTU, a private security firm based in Florida, and lured into the plot by the prospect of securing lucrative contracts in the event of Moise's ouster, according to federal prosecutors.

Eleven people have already been indicted in connection with the assassination in US courts, which have jurisdiction over plots hatched on American soil.

Five of them have been sentenced to life in prison, including a former Colombian soldier, a former Haitian senator, a Haitian Chilean businessman, a retired Colombian soldier and a Haitian American.

Haiti has spiralled into deeper chaos since Moise's killing, and currently has no president.

It is preparing to hold its first presidential and legislative election since 2016, as well as a referendum on the constitution, on December 13 — if security conditions allow.

Gangs control around 80 per cent of Port-au-Prince, and violent crimes such as kidnappings for ransom, armed robbery and carjackings plague the impoverished nation.

A United Nations-backed armed force tasked with helping local police combat gangs will not be fully staffed by October as planned, its spokesman said earlier this month.

Announced by the UN Security Council last year, the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) was expected to ramp up between April and October to a planned capacity of 5,500 uniformed personnel and 50 civilian staff.

As of July, it comprised fewer than 1,000 personnel from Chad, Mongolia, Jamaica, Guatemala, El Salvador and Sri Lanka. More recent figures have not been disclosed.