(Trinidad Guardian) The United States Department of Justice on Thursday issued a diplomatic note to T&T’s Foreign Affairs Ministry for provisional warrants to be issued for three suspects described as “businessmen.”
This came as investigators, including members of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), continued their probe into the seizure in Virginia of an estimated $644 million worth of high-grade cocaine concealed in fruit juice cans originating from T&T. The drug was seized by US Customs and Border Protection officers at the port of Norfolk, Virginia, on December 20. The shipment was smuggled in over 700 cans of Trinidad juices, manufactured by the Citrus Growers Association, a subsidiary of SM Jaleel. Sources said up to late Thursday the note was still at the Foreign Affairs Ministry but it was to be forwarded to the Central Authority which falls under the ministry of the Attorney General. They said even before the note was dispatched from the US Government, it had alerted T&T authorities about the warrants.
Former head of the authority, attorney David West, on Thursday said the issuing of provisional warrants was done from one central authority to another but the process could also be done through the Foreign Affairs Ministry. He explained: “If you want to err on the side of caution and to go through all the channels, the provisional warrant can be sent to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, then to the Attorney General’s office and then to the Central Authority and from there transferred to officers to make the necessary arrest. “It could also be done directly from one authority to the other.
“However, I would not read into it going to the Foreign Affairs Ministry as opposed to directly from authority to authority because it really does not matter either way.” He said once the process had been completed, an arrest was immediate, adding: “There is no delay or there should not be any delay of any sort because this is treated as a matter of urgency.” The diplomatic note, West added, must contain details of the suspects, including their names, addresses and dates of birth. “The diplomatic note would basically read ‘the US Government hereby requests the provisional warrant with a view to extradition of … (names of suspects).’”