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Thirty individuals were indicted for their role in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, according to the U.S. attorney for the southern district of Florida.
U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quinones said that it was the next step in the United States’ pursuit of justice.
Moise was killed in an attack at his home early on July 7, 2021, after a group raided his private residence in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. His wife, Martine, survived the attack.
A person holds a photo of late Haitian President Jovenel Moise during his memorial ceremony at the National Pantheon Museum in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July 20, 2021.
Matias Delacroix/AP
The alleged Colombian mercenaries posed as agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and allegedly killed Moise for personal gain, an 85-page indictment says.
Some of the men were brought to the U.S. on a military plane by an elite team of agents from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
At the heart of the indictment, the government alleges the president was killed for financial gain and U.S. based companies funded the travel of “approximately 18 Colombian nationals with military training to Haiti.”
Suspects in the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise are shown to the media, along with the weapons and equipment they allegedly used in the attack, at the General Direction of the police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July 8, 2021.
Odelyn Joseph/AP
The mercenaries “were individuals motivated to take part in a coup d’état and armed hostilities in Haiti by the desire for private gain and who were not sent by any nation or state on official duty as members of its law enforcement or armed forces,” according to the court record.
“In exchange for future infrastructure and security contracts, the CTU companies, utilizing PPP and EIDL loan proceeds, recruited, hired, and otherwise materially provided for Colombian mercenaries and others and participated in a planned coup d’état in Haiti, including the planned killing or kidnapping of President Moïse,” the record added.
Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise speaks during an interview in his office in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Aug. 28, 2019.
Dieu Nalio Chery/AP
The special agent in charge of the Miami Field office said in a statement that some of the men were arrested.
“In July 2021, President Jovenel Moise was assassinated by individuals seeking to profit from illicit financial opportunities and business contracts,” said Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles. “Today’s multi-location and international arrests underscore the FBl’s continued commitment to bringing all participants in this plot to justice. FBI Miami, along with our domestic and international partners, remain steadfast in ensuring that all individuals who allegedly sought to profit from the assassination of a head of state are held fully accountable.”
The men used equipment allegedly procured in the United States and also allegedly defrauded the U.S. government of PPP loans.
Attorneys for the men were not immediately available.
