Florida resident detained as Haiti assassination suspect
>> The latest suspect detained in the search for the masterminds and assassins in the killing of President Jovenel Moise is a Haitian man in his 60s living in Florida who claims to be a medical doctor and has accused the leaders of his homeland of corruption.
Police identified the man on Sunday night as Christian Emmanuel Sanon and said Moise’s alleged killers were protecting him.
The head of Haiti’s police, Léon Charles, accused Sanon of working with those who plotted and participated in Moise’s killing, which stunned the nation of more than 11 million people. He gave no information on the purported masterminds.
Charles said that among the items found by officers at Sanon’s house in Haiti were a hat with the logo of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, 20 boxes of bullets, gun parts, four automobile license plates from the Dominican Republic, two cars and correspondence with unidentified people.
“We continue to make strides,” Charles said of police efforts to solve the brazen attack early Wednesday at Moise’s home that killed the president and seriously wounded his wife, Martine, who is hospitalized in Miami.
Charles said Sanon was in contact with a firm that provides security for politicians and recruited the suspects in the killing. He said Sanon flew into Haiti on a private jet accompanied by several of the alleged gunmen.
The gunmen’s initial mission was to protect Sanon, but they later received a new order: to arrest the
president, Charles said.
“The operation started from there,” he said, adding that an additional 22 suspects joined the group and that contact was made with Haitian citizens.
More than 20 Colombians are suspected in the killing of the president. Eighteen have been arrested, along with three Haitians. Charles said five of the suspects are still at large and at least three have been killed.
“They are dangerous individuals,” Charles said. “I’m talking commando, specialized commando.”
Charles said that after Moise was killed, one of the suspects phoned Sanon, who then got in touch with two people believed to be the intellectual authors of the plot. He did not identify the masterminds or say if police know who they are.
The police chief said Haitian authorities obtained the information from interrogations and other aspects of the investigation. He added that police are working with high-ranking Colombian officials to identify details of the alleged plot, including when the suspects left Colombia and who paid for their tickets.
Sanon’s arrest comes as a growing number of politicians challenge interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who is currently in charge of Haiti with help from police and the military.
Joseph said Moise’s wife underwent surgery Saturday but is doing well, adding that the investigation into the killing remains a priority for the government.
“I congratulate the population for staying calm,” he said Sunday night. “The plan was probably to kill the president and for the population to take to the streets and start looting.”
While the streets were calm Sunday, government officials worry about what lies ahead and have requested U.S. and U.N. military assistance.
U.S. officials who recently arrived in Haiti, including representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, met on Sunday with Joseph, designated Prime Minister Ariel Henry and Joseph Lambert, the head of Haiti’s dismantled Senate whom supporters have named as provisional president in a challenge to Joseph.