Eighteen suspects transferred to Florida over alleged Moise assassination plot

Eighteen suspects accused of involvement in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise have been transferred from Haiti to Florida, where they are due to face federal proceedings over an alleged transnational plot.

A US military flight carried the suspects from Port-au-Prince on Sunday. The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said the defendants would be tried in the district, but their identities and individual charges have not been released.

US prosecutors allege the plot to kill Moise was primarily engineered, financed and staged from southern Florida. The transfer follows convictions in May, when a Florida jury found four men guilty in the case. At least five others pleaded guilty and received life sentences.

Moise was shot dead at his private residence in July 2021, while his wife was critically injured. The killing left Haiti without an elected national leader and was followed by continuing political and security crises. No national elections have been held since his death.

The United Nations reported 8,100 gang killings in Haiti during 2025 and said about 1.5 million people had been displaced by insecurity. US authorities have said multiple arrests in the United States and overseas were made on Sunday.

The suspects’ alleged roles remain matters for the courts. The transfer has also exposed tensions over Haiti’s justice system, with human rights activist Pierre Esperance calling it a disgrace and urging reforms so complex cases can eventually be tried inside Haiti.