PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Eighteen suspects who were arrested in the July 2021 killing of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse were awaiting extradition to the U.S. on Sunday, marking the end of a drawn-out judicial process in Haiti for a killing that shocked the troubled Caribbean country.
Haiti Seeks International Assistance Amid Ongoing Investigations into Moïse’s Assassination
In October 2025, Haitian justice officials requested assistance from the U.S. and Canada following a court of appeals’ decision to initiate a new investigation into the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse. This marks the third inquiry into his killing, which occurred at his private residence in July 2021.
Previous investigations have faced significant challenges, primarily due to the resignation of Haitian judges who cited threats to their safety. Additionally, gang violence has severely impacted the judicial process, with armed groups taking control of the downtown Port-au-Prince courthouse, where judges were conducting interrogations of suspects involved in the case.
Quiñones said that 30 people have been indicted in Moïse’s killing, with FBI Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles noting that there were multiple arrests in the U.S. and abroad on Sunday. They had previously complained about the repeated delays in the Haitian judicial process following their arrest in 2021, with the investigation stalled by gang violence, death threats and a crumbling judicial system.
The suspects will face trial in Florida, according to Jason Reding Quiñones, U.S. “Today marks the next major phase in our pursuit of accountability for the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse,” he wrote on X. He said that the FBI and others “remain steadfast in ensuring that all individuals who allegedly sought profit from the assassination of a head of state are held fully accountable.
Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. “We will follow the evidence wherever it leads, to those who financed it, facilitated it, supported it or committed crimes to make it possible. Five years later, we are still bringing defendants before American courts, and we are not finished. Quiñones did not identify the suspects, but those who remain in Haiti awaiting trial include more than a dozen Colombian soldiers , a former Haitian police officer and a former Haiti Ministry of Justice employee who was part of an anti-corruption unit.
