On September 20, 2026, U.S. federal law enforcement agents from the FBI took 68-year-old Haitian-Palestinian businessman Samir Handal into custody at his Miami, Florida residence, marking a major new development in the multi-year investigation into the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. Handal, a U.S. Green Card holder who has resided in Miami with his family for years, was arrested pursuant to a newly unsealed federal indictment, with the operation coordinated alongside a separate high-profile arrest in Canada on the same day. In Montreal, Canadian authorities detained Ashkard Pierre Joseph, a former contractor at the Haitian consulate in the city, who is also accused of deep involvement in the coup plot that culminated in Moïse’s killing.
According to the U.S. federal indictment, Ashkard Pierre Joseph, who holds dual residency in Haiti and Canada, directly collaborated with two Florida-based entities CTU and Worldwide Group, Colombian mercenary units, and other co-conspirators to plan the coup that included plots to kidnap or murder President Moïse. Prosecutors further allege that after the assassination was carried out, Pierre Joseph helped hide and arrange the escape of two key fugitives: Mario Antonio Palacios Palacios, a Colombian mercenary, and John Joël Joseph, a former Haitian senator.
Handal’s arrest was perfectly timed to coincide with a landmark extradition operation, in which 18 additional high-profile suspects were flown from Port-au-Prince, Haiti to the U.S. Southern District of Florida on a U.S. military aircraft. That group includes Joseph Felix Badio, widely identified as one of the masterminds of the assassination plot, alongside 17 former Colombian soldiers who made up the on-the-ground commando unit that stormed Moïse’s private residence in 2021.
Handal has long been named as a person of major interest in the assassination investigation. This is not the first time he has faced detention over the case: he was previously arrested by Turkish authorities in 2021, but was released after Turkey rejected an extradition request from the Haitian government, and he subsequently returned to live in the U.S.
Following his arrest, Handal made his initial court appearance at a Miami federal court, where he was ordered to remain in pre-trial custody as part of the expanded U.S.-led probe into Moïse’s killing. The veteran businessman faces three serious federal charges, most notably conspiracy to murder or kidnap a foreign national outside U.S. borders, and providing material support to a conspiracy that resulted in death. If convicted on these charges by U.S. courts, he could face a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
U.S. prosecutors specifically allege that Handal owned the private property that conspirators used as both a safe house and a coordination meeting spot in the lead-up to the 2021 assassination. Unlike many other co-defendants in the sprawling case, Handal has retained private legal counsel to represent him. His legal team has stated that their client has consistently maintained his innocence since the investigation began, and that he is prepared to vigorously contest all charges in open court. The attorneys have also criticized the excessive public attention and media hype surrounding the FBI’s arrest operation.