PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Eighteen suspects who were arrested in the July 2021 killing of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse were awaiting extradition to the U.S. on Sunday, marking the end of a drawn-out judicial process in Haiti for a killing that shocked the troubled Caribbean country.
Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
The suspects will face trial in Florida, according to Jason Reding Quiñones, U.S.
Quiñones did not identify the suspects, but those who remain in Haiti awaiting trial include more than a dozen Colombian soldiers , a former Haitian police officer and a former Haiti Ministry of Justice employee who was part of an anti-corruption unit. Once in power, the plan was for him to award contracts to a company known as CTU for infrastructure projects, security forces and military equipment. Quiñones said that 30 people have been indicted in Moïse’s killing, with FBI Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles noting that there were multiple arrests in the U.S. and abroad on Sunday.
He said that the FBI and others “remain steadfast in ensuring that all individuals who allegedly sought profit from the assassination of a head of state are held fully accountable. Still awaiting trial is Christian Sanon, a Haitian-American citizen whom authorities said was initially picked by the alleged conspirators to replace Moïse.
Suspects who previously pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court include a retired Colombian army officer and a Haitian-Chilean businessman who was once an informant for the U.S. government.
“We will follow the evidence wherever it leads, to those who financed it, facilitated it, supported it or committed crimes to make it possible. Five years later, we are still bringing defendants before American courts, and we are not finished.”
“Today marks the next major phase in our pursuit of accountability for the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse,” he wrote on X.
