Haiti arrested alleged mastermind in assassination of President Moses | Latin American news

Authorities said Sunday they arrested a Haitian man living in the U.S. state of Florida.

Haitian police have arrested one of the alleged masterminds behind the assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

Authorities said they arrested a Haitian living in the U.S. state of Florida and accused him of hiring mercenaries to remove and replace the president.

Moses was shot dead Wednesday morning at his home in Port-au-Prince, described by Haitian authorities as a killer unit of 26 Colombians and two Haitian-Americans.

National Police Chief Leon Charles said at a news conference on Sunday that the arrested man, 63-year-old Christian Emmanuel Sanon, had gone to Haiti with security guards hired on a private plane in early June and wanted to take over as president.

He hired Colombian mercenaries through a private Venezuelan security company based in Florida.

The doctor is a third resident of Haitian descent in the United States, and every 21st person has been arrested as a suspect in the case.

Charles did not explain Sanon’s motives beyond saying they were political.

“The role of these attackers was initially to ensure the safety of Emmanuel Sanon, but later the mission was changed,” Charles said.

Charles added that among the items found at Sanon’s home in Haiti were a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration logo, 20 bullet boxes, gun parts, four Dominican Republic license plates, two cars and a hat bearing unidentified correspondence. people.

Haitian police have arrested 18 Colombians and three Haitian-Americans, including Sanon, as a result of the murder, Charles said. Five Colombians are still at large and three were killed, he added.

The alleged killers told investigators to arrest him there, not to kill him, the Miami Herald and a person familiar with the matter said Sunday.