Suspects in Haitian president's assassination transferred to Miami, accused of funding plot with COVID fraud

Eighteen allegedly involved in the brazen 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse have touched down on U.S. soil to face federal charges, with Fox News cameras on the tarmac for their arrival Sunday.

In exclusive footage, the defendants can be seen stepping off a U.S. military aircraft in Miami, shackled and tightly guarded by FBI and Department of Homeland Security agents in military-like fatigues.

The dramatic transfer marks a major turning point in the international investigation into the plot that left the Haitian leader dead in his bedroom.

"Today, the FBI and our interagency partners are executing yet another sweeping Foreign Transfer of Custody of 18 Haitian prisoners related to the investigation into the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse," FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital in a statement.

"It is the latest in an all-out 18-month blitz by this FBI man-hunting high-value targets across the world and bringing them back to the United States to face justice." FBI EXTRADITES FORMER TEN MOST WANTED FUGITIVE ARRESTED FOR 2000 MURDER OF 5-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN PHILADELPHIA The ​53-year-old president was shot dead in July 2021 at his private residence in ​the hills above Port-au-Prince, a killing that left a gaping political vacuum ⁠in the Caribbean nation and emboldened powerful armed groups in the country.

According to FBI Miami, the accused — comprising operatives from Haiti and Colombia — were transferred from Haitian custody to face the U.S. justice system.

Federal prosecutors established jurisdiction because the conspiracy was largely organized and financed in South Florida.

Prosecutors allege the defendants utilized fraudulent COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to bankroll the deadly mission.

A complex five-year federal investigation into 30 suspects charged with crimes revealed the assassination was financed by American taxpayer dollars to businesses based in Florida to gather the weapons, tactical gear, and Colombian mercenaries that killed Moise inside his own home .

The charges include conspiracy to kill or kidnap a person abroad, as well as wire fraud.

Some of the assassins even allegedly posed as federal agents with the U.S.

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in order to get inside the presidential residence in Haiti.

MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO STEALING OVER $1M IN PPP LOANS FOR SUPPOSED AMATEUR BASKETBALL LEAGUE As the 18 suspects arrived in Miami, Department of Justice prosecutors unsealed an indictment detailing the sprawling conspiracy.

Court documents outline a plot initially aimed at violently overthrowing the Haitian President, which ultimately escalated into an assassination.