NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Court of Appeal yesterday ordered a 63-year-old Eleuthera man to surrender himself to police and await his extradition to the United States where he is wanted on drug trafficking charges.
The appellate court, in a decision yesterday dismissing the appeal of Roscoe Thompson against his extradition, ordered that the Eleuthera native surrender into the custody of Central Police Station by 2 pm yesterday for onward transmission to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services, to await his extradition. Thompson was on bail.
The Court of Appeal determined that there is “sufficient direct and admissible affidavit evidence” contained in the affidavits of Thompson’s co-conspirators such that it was reasonable for the trial judge who initially ordered his extradition to conclude that he had participated in a conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States.
The court noted that Thompson’s co-conspirators had each identified him in a photograph as the person with whom they had participated in the cocaine smuggling and that Thompson did not contest that he was the individual in the photo.
“Therefore, it is clear that the appellant was adequately identified as the individual with whom the co-conspirators conspired. The Appellant also could not complain that it would be unjust to extradite him because of the passage of time, because extraditions have proceeded in cases with far more time passing between the commission of the offense and the date of extradition.
“Finally, the Appellant has provided no evidence to show that his conspiracy charges, and consequently his extradition request, are in breach of applicable statute of limitations regarding conspiracy in the Requesting State,” the court noted.
Thompson is wanted by the US government over an alleged conspiracy to distribute dangerous drugs—some five kilos of cocaine—within its borders. Thompson, a native of Wemyss Bight, Eleuthera was indicted by a grand jury on September 11, 2007.
It is alleged that he along with Sergio Pantoja, Nelson Fernando Contento, Guillermo de la Rosa and others participated in a conspiracy to transport cocaine from Columbia to the United States using The Bahamas as a transshipment point. Prosecutors state that Thompson received the cocaine from Columbia and arranged for its delivery to co-conspirators who would import and distribute the cocaine into the United States.
