HAITI PLOT TWIST

Suspect a DEA snitch

An American arrested in the assassination of Haiti’s president had been an informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration — and even reached out to his former handler after the attack last week.

A DEA official confirmed the suspect’s link to the agency, as reports emerged that several other people in the deadly ambush of Jovenel Moïse had also worked as informants for US agencies, including the FBI.

“One of the suspects in the assassination of [the] Haitian president was a confidential source to the DEA,” an agency official confirmed. “Following the assassination of President Moïse, the suspect reached out to his contacts at the DEA.

“A DEA official assigned to Haiti urged the suspect to surrender to local authorities and, along with a US State Departcolleague, ment shared information with the Haitian government that assisted in the surrender and arrest of the suspect and one other individual.”

The heavily armed hit squad in the dead-of-night raid that left Moïse dead at his Port-au-Prince home claimed to be DEA agents, Haitian authorities said.

The DEA source said the men were “not acting on behalf of DEA” at the time.

“Several” other suspects in the attack have also worked as informants, including for the FBI, CNN reported. The agency told the network that it doesn’t comment on informants, except to say that it uses “lawful sources to collect intelligence” in its probes.

The former DEA informant was identified by the Miami Herald and McClatchy as Joseph Gertand Vincent, 55, of West Palm Beach, one of three Haitian-Americans in custody over Moïse’s death.

Vincent was first arrested more than 20 years ago for filing a false passport application. He went on to become a paid DEA informant, the Herald said.

He went by the pseudonym “Oliver” and helped bring down drug traffickers — including the 2017 arrest of former Haitian rebel leader Guy Philippe, sources told the newspaper.

Vincent had been with Haitian National Police officers when they turned over Philippe to DEA agents for the flight to Miami, the sources also said. He eventually pleaded guilty to drug-trafficking conspiracy charges and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Haitian authorities said 26 former Colombian soldiers are suspected in Moïse’s killing — and 23 have been arrested, along with the three Haitian-Americans.

Five suspects are still at large.

Among the arrested is Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 62, a Haitian-American who is believed to be a key player in Moïse’s death.

Sanon, who has lived on and off in Florida and Haiti for 20 years, believed he was on “a mission to save Haiti

from hell,” and claimed in a 2011 YouTube video titled “Leadership of Haiti” that he would be installed as the country’s new leader.

Haitian police said Sanon landed in the country in a private plane last month with plans to seize Moïse and install himself in the office.