Haiti arrests one of the main suspects in the killing of President Jovenel Moïse

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A former Haitian official considered one of the main suspects in the killing of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in 2021 was arrested Thursday in Haiti’s capital, the police informed.

Joseph Badio was arrested in the neighborhood of Petion Vile in Port-au-Prince, National Police spokesman Garry Desrosiers said.

Badio once worked for Haiti’s Ministry of Justice and at the government’s anti-corruption unit until he was fired for alleged violations of unspecified ethical rules weeks before the assassination.

Moïse was shot 12 times at this private home in July 7, 2021, sending Haiti into a political crisis.

Several people had been arrested after Moïse assassination, including 11 men now in U.S. custody. Prosecutors in the U.S. have alleged that there was a broad plot among conspirators in both Haiti and Florida to hire mercenaries to remove Moïse and benefit from contracts from a successor administration.

Among the people arrested after the killing are 18 former Colombian soldiers who are in custody in Haiti.

Since the assassination, the Caribbean country has also experienced a surge of gang violence that led the prime minister to request the deployment of an armed force. The U.N. Security Council finally voted on early October to send a multinational force led by Kenya to help fight the gangs.

Kenya has not set a date for the deployment.