A Haitian wanted in the assassination of the country’s president was arrested in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday after being extradited from the Dominican Republic, a U.S. Justice Department official said.

Rodolphe Jaar will be the second person to stand trial in the United States in the death of Jovenel Moise in July last year. A retired Colombian soldier, Mario Palacios, was charged on Jan. 4 for his alleged role in the killing.

Jaar fled from Haiti after the attack at the presidential palace and was arrested in the neighboring Dominican Republic on Jan. 7, exactly six months after the assassination.

Jaar is to make an initial court appearance Thursday to hear the charges against him, the Justice Department official said.

The department has not explained why Jaar or Palacios is being charged in the United States rather than in Haiti.

The Miami Herald said Jaar is a businessman who served jail time in the United States for cocaine trafficking a decade ago.

Last Friday, police in Jamaica arrested a former Haitian senator, Jean Joel Joseph, also wanted in his country in connection to Moise’s killing.

More than 40 people have been arrested in connection with the attack, but much remains unknown, especially who ordered it.

The assassination deepened a dramatic crisis in Haiti, which is suffering from a lack of security, soaring gang violence and a spate of kidnappings. (AFP)

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