Eighteen people accused of playing a role in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse arrived in the United States on Sunday to face federal charges. Fox News cameras captured their arrival on the tarmac.
Exclusive video showed the defendants leaving a U.S. military aircraft in Miami while shackled and surrounded by FBI and Department of Homeland Security personnel wearing military-style uniforms. Their transfer represents a significant development in the international investigation into the plot that ended with Moïse being killed inside his bedroom.
“Today, the FBI and our interagency partners are executing yet another sweeping Foreign Transfer of Custody of 18 Haitian prisoners related to the investigation into the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement to Fox News Digital. He described the operation as the latest move in an 18-month campaign to track down high-value suspects around the world and bring them to the United States to face justice.
Moïse, 53, was fatally shot in July 2021 at his private home in the hills overlooking Port-au-Prince. His death created a deep political void in Haiti and further emboldened the country’s powerful armed groups.
FBI Miami said the defendants, who include Haitian and Colombian operatives, were moved from Haitian custody into the U.S. legal system. Federal prosecutors say the case falls under U.S. jurisdiction because much of the alleged conspiracy was planned and financed in South Florida.
According to prosecutors, fraudulent COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program loans helped fund the operation. The five-year federal investigation, which resulted in charges against 30 people, alleges that American taxpayer-backed funds were diverted through Florida businesses to purchase weapons, tactical equipment and the services of Colombian mercenaries who killed Moïse in his residence.
The defendants face allegations including conspiracy to kill or kidnap a person outside the United States and wire fraud. Prosecutors also claim that some members of the group impersonated federal agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to gain entry to the Haitian president’s home.
As the 18 suspects landed in Miami, Justice Department prosecutors unsealed an indictment describing the alleged international conspiracy. The court filing says the operation began as a plan to forcibly remove Moïse from power before evolving into a plot to assassinate him.
“This was really about greed,” Brett Skiles, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Miami, told Fox News. He said the suspects had business interests in the United States and hoped a change in Haiti’s government would help them secure lucrative contracts and generate profits.
The defendants were scheduled to make their first appearances in Miami federal court on Monday morning. Since cameras are not permitted inside federal courtrooms, the footage from the airport provides the only available images of the suspects arriving in U.S. custody.
“This assassination plot was planned, financed, and conspired here in Miami,” Jason Reding Quiñones, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, told Fox News. He said the case was about not only pursuing those accused of murder but also holding accountable anyone who allegedly used government funds to help carry it out.
Four alleged leaders of the 2021 assassination conspiracy were convicted in Miami in May. They face the possibility of life sentences.
During their nine-week federal trial in Miami, prosecutors said the men recruited roughly two dozen former Colombian soldiers and equipped them with cash, firearms, ammunition and tactical body armor.
Patel said the arrests reflected the results of increased cooperation with international law enforcement agencies, noting that the FBI’s engagement with foreign partners had risen by 400% over the previous 18 months.
He also praised FBI Miami for leading the investigation and thanked the law enforcement agencies involved in carrying out the transfer.
Haitian Justice Minister Patrick Pelissier confirmed that the suspects had been sent from Haiti to the United States, saying the Haitian judicial process had faced repeated delays.
“While the American procedure has recorded significant progress, notably arrests, prosecutions, and convictions, the Haitian procedure remains confronted with major difficulties and has not, to date, resulted in a trial being held, after five years of proceedings,” Pelissier said.
Pierre Espérance, a prominent Haitian human rights activist, called the slow progress of the domestic case and the transfer of the 18 suspects to the United States a “disgrace for the Haitian justice system.”
Espérance said Haiti must strengthen its courts and investigative institutions so that complex cases of this nature can be prosecuted inside the country instead of being sent to the United States.
