18 suspects taken to US over 2021 Haiti President assassination

Eighteen people suspected of involvement in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse have been transferred to the United States to face federal charges, according to US officials.
The suspects were flown from Haiti to Florida, where they are expected to appear before a federal court in the Southern District of Florida.
Moïse, 53, was shot dead at his private residence in Port-au-Prince on July 7, 2021, in an attack that shocked Haiti and triggered a prolonged political and security crisis.
FBI Special Agent Brett Skiles said the arrests and transfers across multiple locations and countries demonstrated the agency’s continued effort to hold those allegedly involved accountable.
Federal prosecutor Jason Reding Quinones said 18 defendants had been transported from Haiti aboard a US military aircraft to face prosecution.
“Five years later, we are still bringing defendants before American courts, and we are not finished,” Quinones said, adding that 30 people had so far been indicted in connection with the killing.
Among those transferred is Joseph Felix Badio, a former official with Haiti’s Ministry of Justice who has been identified by Haitian government and police sources as a key suspect in the investigation.
The remaining suspects are reportedly Colombian nationals who were allegedly recruited as part of the operation.
Colombia’s foreign ministry said it was monitoring the transfer of 17 of its citizens to the United States. The ministry said Colombian authorities had not participated in the decision or process leading to the transfer, which it described as a matter for the relevant authorities in the countries involved.
US prosecutions
The latest transfers follow a US federal case in which four men were convicted in Miami in May on charges including conspiracy to kill or kidnap Moïse, conspiracy to provide material support and violations of the US Neutrality Act.
Prosecutors said the men had links to CTU, a Florida-based private security company, and had been drawn into the alleged plot by the prospect of lucrative contracts following Moïse’s removal from office.
They face possible life sentences.
US courts have pursued the case because parts of the alleged conspiracy were developed on American soil. Eleven people had previously been indicted in the United States over the assassination.
Haiti’s continuing crisis
Moïse’s killing has been followed by years of political instability and escalating violence in Haiti, which currently has no president.
The country is preparing for presidential and legislative elections, along with a constitutional referendum, scheduled for December 13, provided security conditions permit.
Armed gangs have expanded their control across large parts of Port-au-Prince, with kidnappings for ransom, armed robberies and carjackings among the crimes reported in the capital.
A UN-backed security mission intended to support Haitian police in confronting the gangs has also faced staffing challenges, with its full complement not expected to be in place by the originally planned October deadline, according to its spokesman.