Several tied to Haiti assassination plot were previously US law enforcement informants

(CNN) — Several of the men involved in the operation that killed Haiti's president previously worked as US law enforcement informants, according to people briefed on the matter, as US investigators grapple with an increasing number of Florida links to the alleged hit squad.

At least one of the men arrested by Haitian authorities previously worked as an informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the DEA said in a statement in response to CNN.
"At times, one of the suspects in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was a confidential source to the DEA," the DEA said in a statement.

"Following the assassination of President Moïse, the suspect reached out to his contacts at the DEA. A DEA official assigned to Haiti urged the suspect to surrender to local authorities and, along with a U.S. State Department official, provided information to the Haitian government that assisted in the surrender and arrest of the suspect and one other individual," the DEA said.

The DEA said it is aware of reports that some assassins yelled "DEA" at the time of their attack. The DEA said in its statement that none of the attackers were operating on behalf of the agency.

Others also had US ties, including working as informants for the FBI, the people briefed on the matter said. The FBI said in response to CNN's reporting that it doesn't comment on informants, except to say that it uses "lawful sources to collect intelligence" as part of its investigations.

Moise was killed Wednesday in an operation that Haitian authorities say involved at least 28 people, many of them Colombian mercenaries hired through a Florida-based security company.