MIAMI — A key suspect in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse is in U.S. custody in Miami after being arrested Tuesday morning by Homeland Security agents upon arrival from Panama, multiple U.S. government sources familiar with the matter told McClatchy and the Miami Herald.
Mario Palacios Palacios, known as “Floro,” is scheduled to have his first appearance in federal court Tuesday afternoon, where he will be arraigned. He will be the first person allegedly involved in the assassination of the Haitian president to be formally charged with a crime.
The charges were drafted by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI. Sources familiar with the investigation said he faces charges of conspiracy to provide material support resulting in the death of a foreign leader, and conspiracy to kidnap and kill a foreign leader.
Haiti currently has 39 suspects in custody. They include four police officers who were arrested in recent days by an investigative judge conducting a probe of the July 7 assassination. None of those individuals have been charged, however.
A 40th suspect died of COVID-related illness in jail.
How Palacios was transferred from Panama remains unclear, though the way in which he arrived in the United States is typical of law enforcement agencies seeking to avoid the lengthy process of extradition.
Palacios had been held in Jamaica on an immigration violation and was being deported to his home country of Colombia on Monday when he was detained en route.
Palacios is accused of being one of the main executors of the plan leading to Moïse’s July 7 assassination, according to a Haitian police report obtained by the Miami Herald. He was believed to be among 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans who made up a hit squad that stormed the president’s private residence in the middle of the night, claiming to be part of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration operation.
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(Miami Herald reporter Jay Weaver contributed reporting.)
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