Haitian authorities continue search for assassin masterminds

Haitian police on Sunday said they detained Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a 63-year-old doctor living in Florida, for working with the key plotters of President Jovenel Moïse’s killing last week. Léon Charles, the head of Haiti’s police, said Sanon was in contact with a security firm that hired the suspected gunmen and flew into Haiti on a private jet with several of them. He said the gunmen’s initial mission was to protect Sanon, who had expressed interest in politics in the past, before receiving an order to arrest Moïse. After the president’s death, one of the suspects called Sanon, who then contacted two of the alleged masterminds of the plot.

Any additional details on the investigation? Charles said authorities have now arrested 21 suspects and killed three others, while five of them are still on the lam. Sanon is the third suspect with ties to the United States. A U.S. team including officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security arrived in Haiti on Sunday to help with the investigation. Pentagon chief spokesman John Kirby said on Fox News Sunday the Pentagon is still analyzing Haiti’s request for U.S. troops. The country has also asked for United Nations military assistance.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report in The Sift on the assassination.