Eighteen Suspects Extradited to Florida Over 2021 Assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse

Eighteen suspects detained in connection with the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse have been flown out of Port-au-Prince on a military flight to the United States. The defendants, including Colombian soldiers and former Haitian officials, are scheduled to stand trial in federal court in the Southern District of Florida.

US Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones announced the transfer, stating that investigators continue to examine the financial networks and facilitators behind the transnational plot. The prosecution follows a nine-week federal trial in Miami earlier in the year that resulted in convictions and guilty pleas for several co-conspirators involved in funding and orchestrating the attack.

Federal prosecutors established jurisdiction in Florida because key phases of the conspiracy were engineered, financed, and staged from South Florida. Under 18 U.S.C. Section 956(a)(1), federal courts hold extraterritorial jurisdiction over conspiracies formed or facilitated within the United States to murder or kidnap individuals abroad when an overt act occurs domestically. Court filings and trial evidence revealed that organizers recruited approximately two dozen former Colombian soldiers, providing them with funding, weapons, and tactical equipment, including ballistic vests shipped without export licenses from Miami to Port-au-Prince.

Additional statutory weight comes from 18 U.S.C. Section 1116, which defines foreign heads of state as internationally protected persons and establishes jurisdiction when an offender is found within the United States. Under these statutes, conspiracy to commit murder carries a statutory maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Furthermore, United States Sentencing Guidelines Section 2A1.5 establishes a base offense level of 33, with a mandatory cross-reference to Section 2A1.1 dictating a base offense level of 43 and a sentence of life imprisonment when the offense results in death.

Formal extradition between Haiti and the United States is rooted in a 1904 treaty, but constitutional restrictions under Article 41 of the 1987 Constitution and recurring institutional collapse have historically obstructed formal judicial extradition in Haiti. During periods of severe political instability, formal judicial procedures are typically bypassed. In January 2017, Haitian coup leader and senator-elect Guy Philippe was handed over directly to the Drug Enforcement Administration by Haitian police and flown to Miami under executive-level cooperation. Similarly, in January 2023, four individuals detained in Haiti for the Moïse assassination were transferred directly into US custody as domestic judicial proceedings stalled.

In May, a Miami federal jury convicted four men on charges including conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping and providing material support. Among those convicted were principals of Florida-based private security firms and financial entities that prosecutors said were established to secure lucrative government contracts following the removal of Moïse.

The transfer underscores the paralysis of Haiti's domestic judicial system amid an escalating security crisis. Armed criminal syndicates have expanded their territorial control across approximately 80 to 90 percent of the capital, displacing roughly 1.5 million people and precipitating thousands of gang-related killings.

The ongoing legal proceedings in US courts unfold alongside shifting international security deployments in Haiti. On September 30, 2025, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2793 authorized transitioning the earlier Multinational Security Support mission into the Gang Suppression Force with an authorized personnel ceiling of 5,550.

As of July 8, 2026, the Gang Suppression Force deployed personnel stood at 1,083 military and security members alongside 16 civilian staff members. The force commenced operations on June 1, 2026, operating at limited capacity with full operational capacity expected between October and December 2026, and initiated operations outside Port-au-Prince into Artibonite in August 2026.

Local judicial proceedings in Haiti stalled repeatedly over the past five years as judges withdrew or fled due to death threats, and gangs seized control of downtown courthouses. Human rights advocates in Haiti criticized the reliance on foreign courts, arguing that the transfer reflects severe systemic weaknesses in domestic legal administration.

While 30 individuals have now been indicted in connection with the assassination, several high-profile figures remain unaccounted for or are awaiting further legal action. Defense attorneys have identified former Ministry of Justice anti-corruption official Joseph Badio as a central figure in the transition of pools of conspirators from a kidnapping scheme into an assassination plot.

Other key individuals, including former National Palace security chief Dimitri Hérard, remain at large following prison breakouts caused by gang federation assaults. Federal authorities stated that international arrests are ongoing as investigators pursue all remaining participants allegedly linked to the conspiracy.