The list of detainees continues to grow for the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, which occurred on July 7, 2021. This Saturday the Jamaican Police captured John Joël Joseph, a former Haitian opposition senator who was wanted for the murder and for provide the weapons used in the attack.
According to the Jamaican
Observer
newspaper , he was found in a rural area of that island, where he had arrived in December by sea and where he was trying to go incognito.
Jamaica Police Superintendent Stephanie Lindsay confirmed to the Associated Press (AP) that other people were arrested along with Joseph and that they were trying to determine if they were members of his family.
This is the wanted notice that the Haitian Police had launched in 2021. Haitian National Police
In Haiti, the news has been celebrated by some politicians.
Former Prime Minister Claude Joseph claimed part of the success of the capture.
“I am delighted to see that the international effort I launched as Chancellor and Prime Minister continues to bear fruit.
The arrest of John Joel Joseph shows that there will be no hiding place for those who are directly or indirectly involved in the assassination of President Moïse," he said through his Twitter account.
The former senator arrested this Saturday had come to compare Moïse with covid-19 and was wanted for three charges: murder, attempted murder (for the injuries to the first lady Martine Moïse) and theft of weapons.
The arrest of John Joël Joseph could be an effect of the extradition to the United States of former professional soldier Mario Palacios on January 3. The former Colombian soldier was also hiding in Jamaica, where he was initially arrested last October. Island authorities deported him to Colombia but he was captured on a stopover in Panama and sent to Florida. There he is awaiting a court hearing to answer charges of conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and providing material support that resulted in Moïse's death.
According to the media in Colombia, Palacios had already handed over information to the US authorities.
"He admitted that around July 6, 2021 (one day before the assassination) he was informed by some of the co-conspirators that the plan was to assassinate the Haitian president," highlights a court document released by Noticias Caracol.
So far about 40 people have been arrested, including political personalities from Haiti and 18 former Colombian soldiers who entered the residence of the president who, according to an investigation by
The New York Times
, was assassinated for trying to send the United States a list of people linked to drug trafficking.
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