Justice Department officials revealed on Tuesday that US police have detained four more suspects in the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Mose, including the owner of a Miami-area security firm that employed ex-Colombian soldiers for the assignment.
DoJ said one of the suspects is the owner of a Miami-area security firm that employed ex-Colombian soldiers for the mission.
Haitian President Jovenel Mose Assassination
Antonio Tony Intriago, the proprietor of CTU Security, is charged, along with company representative Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, with conspiracy to assassinate or kidnap a person outside the United States.
US billionaire Walter Veintemilla of Florida is suspected of supporting the scheme. Frederick Joseph Bergmann Jr. is charged with smuggling merchandise.
Former Colombian troops employed by the CTU are among the suspects in the July 2021 assassination. Although CTU is accused of orchestrating the mission, its motivations and eventual perpetrators remain unknown.
Attorney Tama Kudman informed the Associated Press that Veintemilla would plead not guilty to both allegations.
Claude Joseph, who served as prime minister when Mose was murdered, applauded the news. Justice must prevail, he tweeted alongside an image of a press announcement from the US government.
Martine Mose, who was shot during the attack but survived, requested the creation of a special UN tribunal to probe the assassination earlier this month, stating that the investigation had been stalled for 19 months. She started The killers are out there.
James Solages and Joseph Vincent, two Haitian-Americans who were the first to be detained after Mose was shot 12 times at his home in July 2021, are two of the eleven suspects currently in US jail. Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a pastor and failing businessman whose acquaintances believe he was misled by the real masterminds, who have not yet been apprehended, is among the other suspects.
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US Investigation
The original goal was to detain Mose, put him onto a plane, and transport him to an undisclosed place, but the plot failed when the defendants were unable to locate a plane or adequate weapons.
A day prior to the murder, Solages falsely informed other suspects that it was a CIA operation and that the real objective was to assassinate the president. Solages yelled that it was a DEA operation shortly before Mose was slain so that the president’s security detail would obey.
Former Haitian senator John Jol Joseph, who fled to Jamaica, was also jailed, along with former US government informant and Haitian businessman Rodolphe Jaar, who was deported from the Dominican Republic.
As the US investigation into the assassination of Mose in July 2021 advances, the probe in Haiti is almost inactive. Fearing for their lives, three judges have recused themselves from the case, while a fourth has been removed.
Meanwhile, no judicial proceedings have yet been held for the more than 40 suspects seized in Haiti, with many of them, including 18 Colombian troops, languishing in a Port-au-Prince jail that frequently lacks food and water.
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