Haitian police arrest 63-year-old accused of orchestrating assassination of President

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti / CNN — A man accused of helping to plan the assassination of President Jovenel Moise was arrested, Haitian authorities announced on Sunday.

Moise was killed in his Port-au-Prince home on Wednesday, in an attack that has shaken the country already rattled by rampant violence and political instability.

The arrested suspect, 63-year-old Christian Emmanuel Sanon, entered the country on a private jet in June, Police Chief Leon Charles said.

It’s not known what Sanon will be charged with, or what his motives may have been. He said he arrived with “political intentions.”

Sanon allegedly worked with a Florida-based Venezuelan security firm to recruit 26 Colombian mercenaries and two Haitian-Americans. Their first assignment was to provide security for Sanon, but is believed to have evolved over time.

After the assassination, Sanon was the first person one of the alleged assassins called, the police chief said.

Police have previously said a group of at least 28 people are suspected in the killing. At least 20 of those suspects have been detained, including two American nationals. Three suspects have been killed, while a mass manhunt is underway for the five suspects still on the run.

The detained Colombians told police about the details of the operation.

It is not yet clear if Sanon, who police said was born in Marigot, Haiti, has retained legal representation to address potential charges, and he has yet to publicly comment on the allegations.

Charles said the Haitian police are working with intelligence authorities in the Colombian government to trace how the mercenaries got to Haiti, who they were working with in Colombia, and who financed the operation.

Authorities have described the group of suspects as “professional killers,” consisting of members of the Colombian military. But even as more details begin to emerge of the people who allegedly killed Moise, little is known about the suspected masterminds and their motivation for the attack.

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