(AP) Jamaica's prime minister has asked local justice officials to review a U.S.
request to extradite a man Washington says is one of the world's most
dangerous drug kingpins.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding said he believes the U.S. violated an extradition
treaty, alleging its agents used illegal wiretaps in the arms- and drug-trafficking
case against Christopher "Dudus" Coke.
Golding said he has instructed the attorney general and justice minister to obtain
a declaration from the courts on whether the treaty was violated before he
signs off on the extradition order. A government statement said Thursday that
officials were trying to resolve the issue.
The U.S. has sought Coke's extradition since August and has suggested corruption
could be holding up its request, straining relations between the countries.
In a report in March, the State Department said Coke has ties to the governing
Jamaica Labor Party and essentially controls the barricaded Tivoli Gardens
neighborhood in west Kingston, the legislative district represented by the
prime minister.
Golding said previously that intercepted communications used in the case against
Coke were handled in violation of Jamaican law and that he will not sign off on the
extradition request unless the U.S. presents other evidence.
The State Department has named Jamaica a major transit point for South American
cocaine.
Coke, 40, the alleged leader of the Shower Posse gang, faces federal charges in
New York City of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana and conspiracy to
illegally traffic in firearms. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.