US arrests three Americans in assassination of Haitian President

Federal agents on Tuesday arrested the owner of a South Florida security firm linked to the assassination of the former Haitian president, according to one of their lawyers, the latest step in the investigation. investigation involving certain US citizens.

The suspects, Antonio Intriago, a Venezuelan-American businessman, and Arcángel Pretel Ortiz, a Colombian-American citizen, have been detained in South Florida and are expected to appear in court late Tuesday. Mr. Intriago’s attorney said.

Their company, CTU Security, based in Doral, Florida, recruited about 20 former Colombian soldiers who helped storm the home of the Haitian president, Jovenel Moïse, on the night of his assassination in July. in 2021. Intriago’s attorneys had previously admitted that CTU had recruited the men.

“I can confirm that Intriago was arrested this morning and is in Miami for investigation,” said Joseph Tesmond, Intriago’s attorney. “He intends to plead not guilty at his bail hearing this afternoon.”

Mr. Tesmond also confirmed the arrest of Mr. Pretel and a third suspect: Walter Veintemilla, a US citizen and financier living in Florida who loaned CTU Security $172,000 to fund sponsor their activities in Haitiaccording to the Haitian authorities.

On 7 July 2021, assailants entered Mr Moïse’s home outside Port-au-Prince and shot him 12 times, killing him and injuring his wife. The murder has plunged Haiti into a spiral of unchecked violence, as gangs have stepped in to fill a power vacuum and now control most of Port-au-Prince, the nation’s capital.

While about two dozen suspects have been arrested in Haiti and Miami, authorities in both countries have struggled to identify the masterminds of the plot. There were no immediate details about the charges against the three men arrested Tuesday.

Mr Intriago released a statement shortly after Mr Moïse’s murder saying he was unaware of the plan to assassinate the former president. The original plan, he said, was to arrest Moïse and force him to resign, replacing him with a Haitian-American pastor named Christian Emmanuel Sanon.

CTU Security recruited Colombian mercenaries and sought funding from Mr. Veintemilla to finance the operation to arrest Mr. Moïse. The company hopes to provide security for infrastructure projects in Haiti that Mr. Sanon plans to undertake when he becomes the country’s president.

But just weeks before the assassination, plans had changed and Mr. Sanon was no longer seen as a viable candidate to lead the country. According to the Justice Department, the plot shifted from a plan to arrest Moïse to assassinate him.

The South Florida security company is also accused of a plot to assassinate another political figure, President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora of Bolivia, about a year before Moïse was killed.

Security company representatives – including Mr Pretel – traveled to Bolivia in October 2020 and allegedly conspired with the defense minister to assassinate Mr Arce and prevent him from winning the election, according to the Bolivian government. .

In the United States, the Justice Department has so far charged seven suspects in connection with the assassination of Mr. Moïse, including four months ago.

Three of the four were charged with attempted murder: James Solages, 37 years old, and Joseph Vincent, 57 years old, dual American Haitian citizenship; And German Alejandro Rivera García44 years old, a Colombian accused of leading a group of mercenaries on the ground in Haiti.

Wednesday, Dr. Sanon, 65, was charged with trafficking-related offenses, though not charged with attempted murder. All four are prepare to be charged and enter the plea on February 15.

The Justice Department had previously charged three others in the assassination, including a Haitian businessman, a former Colombian soldier and a former Haitian senator.