Extradition orders being prepared in JFK drug bust
Stabroek News
November 28, 2003
It is expected that in the next two weeks US officials will be seeking the extradition of persons from Guyana in connection with the drug smuggling ring which operated out of JFK airport, New York
The ring was smashed on Tuesday following fourteen months of investigations and 25 baggage and cargo handlers have since been charged.
Sources yesterday said that officials from the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) are awaiting the arrival of these orders to effect the arrests of the individuals. CANU, along with officials in Jamaica, were involved in the investigation.
On Wednesday the cargo and baggage handlers and their supervisors, mostly based at JFK and some of whom have been identified as Guyanese, were officially charged with conspiracy to import controlled substances and if convicted could face life imprisonment. They were arraigned in the Brooklyn federal courthouse.
The indictment had stated that the drugs, estimated at 400 kgs of cocaine and various amounts of marijuana, were flown in "overwhelmingly" on flights coming out of Guyana and Jamaica as part of a well co-ordinated operation where handlers in New York were allegedly informed as to the location of drug-filled baggage and cargo in the planes' holds.
Both Universal and North American Airlines were identified in the indictment with 11 kgs of cocaine in the front galley of a North American Airlines flight, found buried under bags of ice on November 4. No employee of either airline was arrested.