President Jovenel Moise was compiling a list of officials and businessmen linked to the drug trade before he was assassinated in July, the New York Times reported on Sunday, adding he planned to give the names to the U.S. government.
Some of those who were captured confessed that retrieving the list with names of suspected drug traffickers was a top priority, the Times reported, citing three senior Haitian officials with knowledge of the investigation.
A central figure in Moïse's list was Charles Saint-Rémy, known as Kiko, two of the Haitian officials tasked with helping draft the dossier said.
Kiko Saint-Rémy, a businessman, has long been suspected by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of involvement in the drug trade.
Notably, he is also the brother-in-law of former President Michel Martelly, who lifted Jovenel out of political obscurity and tapped him to be his successor.
"The document was part of a broader series of clashes President Moise had with powerful political and business figures, some suspected of narcotics and arms trafficking," the Times wrote.