Police have so far arrested 17 suspects linked to the assassination of Haitian President, Jovenel Moise.
Gatekeepers News reports that two of the suspects; James Solages and Joseph Vincent were said to be Haitian Americans while the other fifteen are from Colombia, according to Léon Charles, chief of Haiti’s National Police.
Moise was killed at his private residence in the hills above Port-au-Prince on Wednesday and the first lady, Martine Moise who is in critical condition after she suffered bullet wounds, had been evacuated to Miami for treatment.
Charles noted that some suspects have been killed by the police and eight others are on the run.
“We are going to bring them to justice,” he said when parading the 17 suspects on Thursday night.
Gatekeepers News reports that Colombia’s Government confirmed that six of the suspects, including two of those killed, were retired members of Colombia’s army. The Government, however, did not release their identities.
The head of the Colombian national police, Gen. Jorge Luis Vargas Valencia, said President Iván Duque had instructed the high command of Colombia’s army and police to cooperate in the investigation.
While the U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports that Haitian Americans were in custody but could not confirm or comment.
According to Haiti’s minister of elections, the oldest suspect is 55 and the youngest, Solages, is 35.
Solages described himself as a “certified diplomatic agent,” an advocate for children and budding politician on a website for a charity he established in 2019 in south Florida to assist residents.
On his bio page for the charity, Solages said he previously worked as a bodyguard at the Canadian Embassy in Haiti.
