One of the suspects arrested in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was a former confidential source for the Drug Enforcement Administration, the agency said.
The news was reported by the Miami Herald, which said that the suspect was first arrested over 20 years ago after allegedly providing false information for a U.S. passport application. The person then became an occasional source for the DEA, the outlet reported.
The DEA did not name the suspect but confirmed to NBC News that the person was “at times” a source for the agency.
“Following the assassination of President Moïse, the suspect reached out to his contacts at the DEA,” the agency said in a statement. “A DEA official assigned to Haiti urged the suspect to surrender to local authorities and, along with a U.S. State Department official, provided information to the Haitian government that assisted in the surrender and arrest of the suspect and one other individual.”
Moïse was killed on July 7 after a group of assassins ambushed his Port-au-Prince home in what acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph called a “highly coordinated” attack. The president’s wife, Martine Moïse, was injured in the early morning shooting and was flown to a hospital in Miami for medical treatment, according to the Haitian ambassador to the U.S.
“Haiti has lost a true statesman,” Joseph said. “We will ensure that those responsible for this heinous act are swiftly brought to justice.”
He said that the group of assassins were “highly trained and heavily armed.” He called the slaying a “hateful, inhumane and barbaric act.”
Bocchit Edmond, Haiti’s ambassador to the U.S., had previously said that the assassins appeared to claim to be agents with the DEA.
State Department spokesman Ned Price refuted those claims as “absolutely false.” The DEA again denied the reports in its statement to NBC News.
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“DEA is aware of reports that President Moïse’s assassins yelled ‘DEA’ at the time of their attack. These individuals were not acting on behalf of DEA,” the agency said.
Haitian police have arrested 18 Colombians and three Haitian Americans over the murder. Five Colombians are still at large and three were killed, authorities said.
One of those arrested was Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, whom authorities said flew to Haiti on a private jet in early June accompanied by hired security guards. National Police Chief Leon Charles said Sanon wanted to take over as president.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
