Three owners of a South Florida security company were arrested Tuesday (February 14) in connection to the assassination of former Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
According to The New York Times, Antonio Intriago, Arcángel Pretel Ortiz, and Walter Veintemilla were taken into custody after officials linked Doral-based CTU Security to Moïse’s killing back in July 2021. Joseph Tesmond, Intriago’s lawyer, confirmed federal agents arrested them but no word on the specific charges yet.
Intriago’s legal team previously admitted that the company recruited around 20 Colombian mercenaries, who allegedly helped storm President Moïse’s home outside his home in Port-au-Prince on July 7, 2021. The attackers shot and killed Moïse and left his wife First Lady Martine Marie Etienne Joseph seriously wounded.
Part of the larger plot was to replace Moïse with Haitian-American businessman Christian Emmanuel Sanon as president. Authorities believe the company aimed to provide security infrastructure in the embattled country after Sanon assumed control.
Intriago, a Venezuelan-American businessman, and Ortiz, a Colombian-American citizen, were reportedly detained in South Florida. Veintemilla, a U.S. citizen and financier living in Florida, was specifically accused by Haitian authorities of lending $172,000 to CTU Security to finance operations in the country.
Tesmond said his client wasn’t aware of the plot to kill the former Haitian president, adding that Intriago “intends to enter a not guilty plea at his bond hearing this afternoon.”
Dozens of people have been arrested in connection to the assassination, including mercenaries, businesspeople, and Haitian politicians. The U.S. Justice Department has charged seven people so far in the case, including Sanon who was charged with smuggling and other crimes last month.
Officials in both America and Haiti haven’t figured out who’s the mastermind behind the plot.
The violent upheaval sent the country into a tailspin, sparking a humanitarian crisis and leading to gangs taking majority control of Port-au-Prince, the nation’s capital.
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