Haiti assasination: Four arrested in Florida for alleged roles in assassination of Haitian president
CNN
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Four men have been arrested and charged in Florida in connection with the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, federal officials in Miami-Dade announced Tuesday.
The four men arrested Tuesday are Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, a Colombian national who resides in Miami; and US citizens Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla and Frederick Bergmann, according to a press release.
According to federal officials, Intriago, Ortiz and Veintemilla are charged with aiding a plot to kidnap or kill the Haitian president.
Bergmann was charged with conspiring to commit an export violation for conspiring to smuggle 20 ballistic vests from South Florida to Haiti for military veterans assigned to the murder of Moise, said Markenzy Lapointe, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida said.
Authorities allege that the four hoped to win construction contracts in exchange for the assassination.
CNN has reached out to Joseph Tesmond, Intriago’s attorney, for comment. It is not clear whether the other suspects have hired lawyers.
Dozens of people are linked to the death of Moïse, who was shot about a dozen times and killed at his home in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. His wife, Martine Moïse, was also shot but survived.
Moïse’s death led to an increase in extremist violence in Haiti as gangs sought to dominate the market. Vacuum electricity.
Lapointe said: “The indictment documents also allege that in June 2021, the plot progressed from removing Moïse from power by force… to his assassination.
As of Tuesday, a total of 11 defendants have been “charged and are being held in the United States,” said Matthew Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
According to Lapointe, Ortiz and Intriago allegedly hired more than 20 former soldiers from Colombia for the plot.
He said that Intriago’s company, the Miami-based Counterterrorism Unit (CTU) Security Agency, had retained a group of about 20 Colombian nationals who had received military training.
CTU did not respond to CNN’s earlier requests for comment, and it’s unclear if the company still exists.
Several former Colombian soldiers with ties to CTU were taken into custody in Haiti shortly after the assassination. In an interview in 2021, five of them told CNN they lived and worked together in a complex in the capital, Port-au-Prince, not far from where then-President Moise lived.
They insisted they were not responsible for the president’s death but declined to answer further questions or go into detail about that deadly morning for two common reasons, saying they had no legal representation and fear for his life.
One of the men at the time said: “We were informed that we would be providing security services to a Haitian presidential candidate. “We don’t know what will happen.”
