Haitian president was working on list of powerful people involved in drug trade to give US officials before his assassination, report says

A new report suggests that the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti was meant to stop him from implicating powerful people as participants and beneficiaries in the world of drug trafficking.

In July, armed cartel hitmen burst into Mr Moïse's residence and gunned him down in his bedroom, leaving his wife wounded and bleeding out. Fearing that the hitmen might execute her as well, Martine Moïse pretended to be dead. That's when she heard the hitmen searching frantically for something in her and her husband's bedroom.

"That's it!" one of the hitmen yelled out before the group fled the scene.

First reported in The New York Times, new information has come to light in Mr Moïse's assassination, including a potential motive.

The "thing" Ms Moïse heard the hitmen celebrate finding may have been a "little black book" of powerful politicians, business leaders, power brokers and other figures of influence with alleged ties to Haiti's drug trade.

During his time in office, Mr Moïse crusaded against corruption and its ties to his government, at one point destroying an airstrip used by drug traffickers and launching an inquiry into the eel trade, which is often used for money laundering. The former president also rooted out corrupt officials with ties to the drug trade from his customs department and moved to nationalise a seaport that turned a blind eye to smugglers.

Daniel Foote, a former US special envoy to Haiti who stepped down last month, said there was no question in his mind that drug traffickers were involved in the assassination.

“I would be a fool to think that narco-trafficking and arms trafficking didn’t play a role in the assassination,” he told the Times. “Anyone who understands Haiti’s politics or economics understands this.”

According to the Times, one of the central names on Mr Moïse's list of individuals allegedly tied to drug trafficking was Charles Saint-Rémy. Mr Saint-Rémy, aka Kiko, is a Haitian businessman who has been on the US Drug Enforcement Agency's radar for alleged involvement in the drug trade.

But Mr Saint-Rémy is not just a prominent businessman – he is also the brother-in-law of the nation's former President Michel Martelly. Mr Martelly helped shape Mr Moïse's political career, even signalling to the supporters that he wanted Mr Moïse to succeed him.

Both Mr Martelly and his brother-in-law, Mr Saint-Rémy, wielded power in Mr Moïse’s government. According to the Times' report, the men had influence over the awarding of public contracts and ministerial appointments. In 2015, Mr Saint-Rémy reportedly assaulted an agricultural minister who issued a contract without his consent.

Mr Moïse's aides claimed that the former president began feeling stifled by the gang of oligarchs guiding his hand and moved to root those influences out of his administration, which may have been a motivating force in his anti-drug crusade.

This was a problem, as Mr Martelly reportedly viewed Mr Moïse has something of a puppet, according to some accounts.

Esther Antoine, one of Mr Moïse's campaign managers, told the Times that Mr Martelly would often use campaign stops ostensibly meant to promote Mr Moïse as publicity events for himself. She recalled voicing her concerns that Mr Martelly was "drowning" her candidate, and suggested that Mr Moïse campaign alone.

The suggestion was rejected outright, and Ms Antoine was called to Mr Martelly's home in the middle of the night to have a talk with his wife, Sophia. During their confrontation, Ms Martelly chastised Ms Antoine for not feeding them information on Mr Moïse's movements.

She shot back that she worked for Mr Moïse, not for the Martelly family. That defiance earned her a shockingly blunt response allegedly made by the then-first lady of Haiti.

“That’s when the wife looks at me and says, ‘Jovenel is a property. You don’t seem to understand that,’” Ms Antoine said. “I was shocked. When I asked her to repeat it, she then switched to French: ‘Jovenel est une propriété.’”

American authorities believe that when Mr Moïse's move to free himself from the influence of Mr Martelly and others included in his list likely made him a target.

The assassination and the fact that it remains unsolved and its perpetrators unchained acts as a demoralising sign that the drug traffickers and corrupt officials are tightening their grip on the nation.