A prominent Haitian doctor with close ties to south Florida has been arrested and accused of being one of the key figures behind the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, is the third Haitian-born suspect in the United States to be arrested in connection with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
Sanon, who was arrested on Sunday, had recently entered Haiti on a private jet "with the intention of taking the Haitian presidency," according to authorities. Police have also arrested 18 Colombian men apart from arrested a dozen on Haitians as suspects behind the gory assassination of Moise.
Strange Connections
According to the Miami Herald, Sanon, who has lived in the Sunshine state on and off for more than 20 years, is believed to be one of the ring leaders of the hit squad that killed Moise. Haiti's national police chief Léon Charles said in a statement on Sunday that Sanon is the one who recruited the hitmen to kill Moïse.
Sanon is "the first person the attackers called" after Moïse was shot dead early on Wednesday at his Port-au-Prince home, according the National Police. His name was revealed after two of the arrested men — James Solages, 35, and Joseph Vincent, 55 — told authorities during questioning that the assassination was part of a plot to install Sanon as president of the Caribbean nation.
"I would say that the Haitian (doctor) recruited" the men, who in turn signed up a group of Colombian nationals for the operations, the report said.
According to sources, Sanon recruited a Miami-based security agency, CTU Security, which is registered in Florida as the Counter Terrorist Unit Federal Academy LCC. The alleged Colombians hitmen were reportedly recruited through CTU Security.
Solages and Vincent were constantly in touch with Sanon till the time they completed the hit. They then made a call informing Sanon that Moise has been killed.
Big Plot
According to police, Moise, 53, who was gunned down in an attack on his home by a group of armed men, claimed to be agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration. However, the arrested Colombians and Haitian Americans suspected of carrying out the assassination told investigators during interrogation that the initial plans was not to kill Moïse but to only arrest him.
"They probably were watching and waiting for the opportunity for them to do it," said Investigative Judge Clément Noël, who was among the first to question the two Haitian-Americans among the 19 suspects detained so far.
Police described the killers as well-trained "foreign mercenaries," with the assassination hurling the politically fragile nation into further instability. A source close to the investigation said the two Haitian Americans, Solages and Vincent, told investigators they were translators for the Colombian commando unit that had an arrest warrant. But when they arrived, they found him dead.
That said, what made Sanon hungry for power isn't known yet. According to the Herald, Sanon has had more than a dozen businesses registered in his name in Florida. These also include a few medical services, energy and real estate companies. However, a few are also now listed as inactive.
Sanon identifies himself as a doctor although the outlet could not locate a medical license listing for him in Florida.
