BREAKING |Jul 15, 2021,02:38am EDT| 2,787 views | Courtesy of Forbes
DEA Informant Connected to Assassination of Haitian President DEA Informant Among Those Arrested In Connection With Assassination Of Haitian President
by Siladitya Ray Business Covering breaking news and tech policy stories at Forbes.
TOPLINE
DEA Informant Connected to Assassination of Haitian President. One of the Haitian-Americans arrested in connection with the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse had worked as an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the agency disclosed on Monday night, as U.S. officials examine the growing number of Florida-based links to the brazen killing that has plunged Haiti into crisis.
KEY FACTS
A DEA official told CNN that one of the suspects reached out to his contacts at the agency following the assassination and he was urged to surrender to local authorities.
The DEA then worked with the U.S. State Department to provide additional information to the Haitian government, which aided in the surrender and arrest of the suspect and one other individual, the official added.
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The DEA said it was aware of reports of some of the assassins yelling “DEA” while carrying out the attack, but emphasized that none of the suspected attackers were operating on behalf of the agency.
Haitian authorities arrested two Haitian-American men—Joseph Vincent and James Solages—last week in connection with the killing but the DEA declined to say which of the two men worked with the agency, Reuters reported.
According to the CNN report, several other men involved in the assassination also previously worked as informants for U.S. law enforcement agencies including the FBI, although this has not been officially acknowledged yet.
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TANGENT
On Sunday, authorities arrested a third Haitian American suspect, Florida-based doctor Christian Emmanuel Sanon, and labeled him as the central figure behind the assassination. Haitian national police chief, Léon Charles alleged that Sanon had planned to take over as president of Haiti after the assassination. Sanon allegedly arrived in Haiti last month in a private plane and then contacted a private security firm to recruit people to carry out the killing, police said. During a raid of Sanon’s home Haitian police claim, they recovered a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency cap, a box of cartridges, two vehicles, six pistol holsters, about 20 boxes of bullets, 24 unused shooting targets and four license plates from the Dominican Republic. Vincent and Solages, who had been arrested earlier, have claimed they were not in the room when the assassination took place and they were merely working as translators for the assassins.
KEY BACKGROUND
Senior FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials arrived in Haiti on Sunday to discuss how the U.S. can offer assistance. Previously, Haiti had asked the United States to send troops to the country to protect its airport, seaport, oil and other key infrastructure. Haiti has slipped into political turmoil since last week when a group of attackers assassinated President Jovenel Moïse in his private residence. Moïse’s death has led to a power vacuum in Haiti and there is no clear line of succession as the country has not had a legislative election in over two years. Acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph has appointed himself as the country’s de facto head, while another politician whom Moïse appointed prime minister days before his death—Ariel Henry—is also staking a claim to power.
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