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. 

"The document was part of a broader series of clashes Mr. Moise had with powerful political and business figures, some suspected of narcotics and arms trafficking," the Times wrote. 

A spokesman for the office of Prime Minister Ariel Henry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Moise's murder left Haiti in a political vacuum with no elected president, and further fueled a wave of kidnappings by gangs that now control much of the Caribbean nation's territory.