Some of those suspected of murdering Haitian President Jovenel Moïse last week were informants from the DEA (US anti-drug agency) and FBI (US federal police), according to people familiar with the matter confided under cover of anonymity to CNN.
One of those detained by Haitian police previously worked as an informant for the DEA, which the agency confirmed in a statement sent to the police station. “After the assassination of President Moïse, the suspect traced his contacts at the DEA. An agency official assigned to Haiti urged the suspect to surrender to local authorities and, along with the US State Department, provided information to the Haitian government that assists in the surrender and arrest of the suspect and ‘another individual,’ the text reads. .
The agency also claimed to know that they entered the residence of the Haitian president after identifying themselves as DEA agents, but denied that the criminals were acting on his behalf.
A DEA official, on condition of anonymity, told Reuters news agency that one of the two Haitian detainees was working as an informant, but did not specify which one. Two Haitians of American nationality have already been arrested – they have been identified as James J. Solages, 35, and Joseph Vincent, 55. According to the New York Times, they say they were hired as translators by Colombians.
Other suspects have also had ties to the United States, including as FBI informants, people familiar with the matter told CNN. The US federal police, however, responded that they were not commenting on informants, other than to say they were using “legitimate sources to collect” intelligence information as part of their investigations.
Haitian police have arrested 18 Colombians and Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, a Haitian doctor who lives in Florida, who is accused of planning the assassination of Moses to take over the country.
Officers say they arrived in Sanon after questioning the imprisoned Colombians. They say they were hired by the doctor through the Venezuelan security company CTU, based in Florida.
Also according to the New York Times, when they attacked Sanon, police found a DEA cap, ammunition, six pistols, 24 unused shooting targets and four license plates in his house. Dominican Republic, a neighboring country. in the entered transaction.
The motivations surrounding Moise’s murder remain unclear, and it is still unclear who ordered the crime. According to the Miami Herald, some of the detained suspects testified that they were given an assignment to arrest Moses and take him to the presidential palace, but upon arrival they found him dead.
According to local media, Moise was found with at least 12 gunshot marks. “The office and living room were ransacked. We found him lying on his back, [usando] blue pants, a white shirt stained with blood and an open mouth, ”Magistrate Carl Henry Destin told the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste.