Haiti: U.S. Arrests 4 More People Linked to Jovenel Moise Assassination

Haiti On Tuesday, prosecutors said that U.S. officials had detained four more people concerning the murder of Haitian President Jovenel Moise.

Among those arrested was the owner of a Miami-based security firm that had contracted with former Colombian troops for the assassination.

Authorities claim the July 2021 attack, which involved a group of former Colombian troops, was initially planned as a rebellion as opposed to an assassination, A.P. reports.

Once Moise was gone, the conspirators, according to authorities, planned to cash in on lucrative government contracts.

"This was both a human tragedy and an assault on core democratic principles," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew G. Olsen.

The 59-year-old Venezuelan-American owner of the security firm CTU Security that employed the Colombians, Antonio "Tony" Intriago, faces charges, including conspiracy to kill or kidnap a person outside the United States.

The same accusations are brought against a 50-year-old American citizen and CTU firm representative, Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, who was born in Colombia.

It is believed that U.S. citizen Walter Veintemilla, 54, of Weston, Florida, provided financial backing for the operation.

Frederick Joseph Bergmann Jr., 64, of Tampa, is the fourth suspect. He is suspected of smuggling products, including 20 CTU-branded ballistic vests concealed as medical X-ray vests and school supplies.

Four Jovenel Moise Assassins Were Previously Transferred to U.S. Custody

The United States last month extradited four key suspects in the death of Haitian President Jovenel Moise. It comes as death threats against local Haitian judges scare them away from hearing the case.

Reports said the four suspects brought to U.S. custody include the pastor and doctor Christian Emmanuel Sanon, Colombian German Rivera Garcia, and 37-year-old Haitian American James Solages.

It has been speculated that Sanon, a failed businessman, was fooled by the assassination's true masterminds, who have yet to be revealed, despite being identified to have played a crucial role in the conspiracy. He is suspected of supplying illegal export information and smuggling commodities out of the United States. The 20 ballistic vests were smuggled in under the guise of "medical X-ray vests and school supplies."

Because of the confidence gained by the violent street gangs after Moise's death, they have been able to easily overpower the police force, plunging Haiti into a political crisis.

Courthouses have been looted and torched, and many people have been slain as gangs battle authorities and one another for control of the area.

Haiti President Jovenel Moise Assassination

Moise was shot 12 times by individuals who claimed to be from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and broke into his property in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, in July 2021. The attack also hurt the late president's wife.

Natural catastrophes, gang violence, and governmental paralysis, all exacerbated by the killing, have left Haiti as one of the world's poorest countries, according to Al Jazeera.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe told reporters on Tuesday that while the assassination of President Jovenel Moise took place in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, most of the plot's preparation, finance, and direction took place right here in the United States.

With the arrests on Tuesday, there are now 11 defendants being held in U.S. custody.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

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