(HorizonPost.com) – On July 7, 2021, about 20 Columbian assassins allegedly shot Haitian President Jovenel Moise a dozen times, killing him inside his palace in Port-au-Prince. One of the men, Mario Antonio Palacios, fled to Jamaica to avoid capture, but the country recently deported him, and FBI agents took him into custody in Miami, Florida. Reports show the suspect worked with the other perpetrators, training in Haiti for their mission to kidnap the president.
Colombian National Charged in Connection with Plot to Kill Haitian Presidenthttps://t.co/gVftZx9C9I
— National Security Division, U.S. Dept of Justice (@DOJNatSec) January 4, 2022
When police interviewed the suspect in October 2021, he stated the kidnapping plan wasn’t going to work because he and his conspirators planned to take the president away in a plane. When they couldn’t secure air travel, their objectives turned deadly, and they allegedly decided to murder Moise instead. The group reportedly shot the first lady as well, but she survived the ordeal.
Palacios apparently flew from Florida to Haiti to participate in the murder. He faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder in addition to charges relating to providing material support for plans to kidnap the president and for the president’s death. He could get life in prison if convicted.
Authorities previously arrested another co-conspirator in Haiti where he remains in custody.
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