United States police have arrested four more suspects involved in the 2021 assassination of the late Haitian President Jovenel Moise.
One of the four recent suspects was found to be the owner of a security company based in Florida and who authorities claim hired Colombia ex-soldiers to join him in the assassination. The victim was fatally shot while in his home in Port-au-Prince by foreign mercenaries that appeared to have been speaking Spanish.
Haiti President Assassination Suspects
Following the latest arrests, the American government now has 11 suspects in custody related to the killing of Moise. The Justice Department (DOJ) said that Venezuelan-American Antonio "Tony" Intriago is the owner of CTY Security.
Officials alleged that he hired a squad of former Colombian soldiers to help him with the assassination operation. American authorities have now hit Intriago with a slew of charges, including conspiracy to kill or kidnap a person outside of the United States.
Colombian citizen Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, a CTU company representative, was also taken into custody about the case. Officials accuse a third suspect, Florida-based financier Walter Veintemilla, of providing the funds for the operation, as per BBC.
The attorney of Veintemilla revealed that their client plans to plead not guilty in the case; authorities identified the fourth suspect as Frederick Joseph Bergmann Jr., who is accused of smuggling ballistic vests that the attackers allegedly used in the assassination operation.
In a statement, the US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Markenzy Lapointe, said that it was crucial for authorities to bring the suspects to justice. He added that they would continue to work on having the assailants pay for their crimes.
American officials previously revealed that they arrested seven men who are believed to be connected to Moise's assassination. These individuals include Haitian-American dual citizens James Solages and Joseph Vincent and Christian Emmanual Sanon, a pastor and businessman.
Four More Suspects Arrested
Sanon's associates argued that the suspect, who has been identified as a key player in the assassination, was duped by the still unidentified masterminds behind the attack. The killing of Moise plunged Haiti deep into political rife and resulted in gang violence that residents have not seen in the last few decades, according to NPR.
Officials previously identified another suspect as a Colombian citizen, 44-year-old German Rivera Garcia, who is one of the nearly two dozen former Colombian soldiers involved in the case. These suspects were charged with conspiring to commit murder or kidnapping outside the US and providing material support and resources resulting in death.
While Haitian authorities have made dozens of arrests with the assassination, investigations have stalled due to death threats aimed at local judges. Last month, officials transferred four suspects, which Ortiz is a part of, to the United States for prosecution.
The four suspects are scheduled to make their first court appearance on Tuesday. Court documents also revealed that South Florida has served as a "central location for planning and financing the plot" from February to July 2021. It was all part of an attempt to oust Moise, said the Voice of America News.
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