RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – One of the suspects in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise has been an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), that office said today.
“Following the assassination of President Moise, the suspect contacted one of his DEA contacts and was urged by a DEA official assigned to Haiti to turn himself into local authorities,” an agency statement to CNN television indicated, without identifying his identity.
In conjunction with the State Department, the DEA said that information was provided to the Haitian government that assisted in the surrender and arrest of the suspect and another individual.
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During the attack last Wednesday, according to Haitian authorities, at least 28 individuals were involved, the raid squad announced over the loudspeaker that it was a DEA operation.
In its statement to CNN, the agency indicated that none of the attackers acted on behalf of the DEA in the raid.
At least two U.S. citizens, Joseph Vincent, 55, and James Solages, 35, have been arrested in connection with the attack on Moise’s residence in which his wife was also injured.
A third Haitian-American, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, was arrested on Monday, and Haitian authorities say he is primarily responsible for the attack.
Seventeen other suspects arrested in Haiti are Colombians, 11 of whom the Colombian Defense Ministry has identified as former members of the Colombian armed forces.
President Joe Biden’s administration has dispatched a team of experts to Haiti to assist in the Moise assassination investigation. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concern about the situation there on Monday.
Anthony Coley, a Justice Department spokesman, said Monday that “senior U.S. officials in Haiti have conducted an initial assessment of the situation.”
“The (Justice) department will also investigate whether there have been violations of U.S. criminal laws in connection with this matter,” he added.