Miami-based company CTU Security is under investigation following the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse last week.
CTU (an acronym for Counter Terrorist Unit) offers personal security details, weapons and self-defense training, and access to military equipment including bomb disposal suits and armored vehicles. According to its website, CTU offers “first-class personalized products and services to law enforcement and military units, as well as industrial customers.”
President Moïse was killed on July 7th when a group of mercenaries posing as DEA agents infiltrated his home. He was shot 12 times by individuals who met no resistance from his personal security guards.
Police believe 28 people were involved, including a former DEA informant and a former Haitian senator. To date, 20 individuals have been apprehended, 3 have been killed, and 5 remain at large.
Family members of the suspects confirmed their loved ones had been offered $2,700 per month by CTU to protect VIPs in Haiti.
“I don’t know what to think about that,” says Ralph N. Garcia, a private investigator listed as as partner on CTU’s website even though he has never done business with the company. “I don’t know anything about this Haiti stuff.”
A majority of the suspects had previously served in the Colombian military’s elite special forces and could operate without detection, confirmed attorney Nelson Romero Velasquez. “They have the ability to be like shadows.”
Individuals who know Mr. Intriago believe money may have been a motivating factor. CTU has faced at least 5 evictions and 3 lawsuits since 2011. It was accused of trying to pay for weapons in 2018 with a bad check.
Intriago himself has made no public comment regarding the investigation, but reports confirm that a nondescript warehouse belonging to CTU was shuttered on Friday.
Additional suspects include Magalie Habitant, a supposed ally of the Haitian president whose home was recently occupied by the suspects and Christian Emmanuel, a Haitian doctor believe to have hired the hit squad through CTU.
Two additional suspects, both Haitian-Americans, said they were hired by CTU to act as translators in a plot to arrest – but not to kill – Moïse.
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It is unclear who will lead Haiti following Moïse’s death, as the politician next in line for the presidency died from COVID two weeks ago. Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph has declared a “state of siege,” granting him complete control over the country even though he was supposed to have been succeeded by Ariel Henry later this month.
