Accused trafficker disappears

ONE of five fugitives wanted in the United States for a total of 11 drug trafficking charges in that country has gone missing, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Cecil Pope, attorney for Jitram Sookdeo, yesterday indicated to Chief Magis-trate Sherman Mc Nicolls that his client has been missing since Tuesday. According to Pope, Sookdeo was supposed to meet with him on that day, but sent a message saying that he had been in an accident and was hospitalised. He said neither his client’s wife nor his bailors had seen him or heard from him since then. When questioned by Mc Nicolls about their efforts to find Sookdeo, the bailors, one of whom is Sookdeo’s father-in-law, said they had searched several places.

Prior to that, Sookdeo’s father-in-law said, they had filed a report at the police station. However, the bailor said, the record showed that Sookdeo had reported to the Freeport Police Station as required on Tuesday. The 35-year-old Sook-deo of Jubilee Street, Aranjuez, had been out on $150,000 bail. Sookdeo, Ronald Rackal, Hafeez Mohammed, Ramesh Doon, and Indaryartee Dwarika were arrested by members of the Organised Crime and Narcotics Unit (OCNU) on November 30, 2004, on a provisional warrant for extradition to the United States to face drug trafficking charges. After weeks of hearing evidence, the attorneys were yesterday scheduled to make their closing submissions, and Mc Nicolls was expected to rule.

Rackal and Mohammed yesterday consented to the extradition, and were taken to the Port-of-Spain prison to await the arrival of the US marshalls. However, Dwarika, who had a letter from her attorney requesting an adjournment, will know her fate on Monday, when her attorney is expected to accompany her to court. Doon, who submitted his own written submissions, was also allowed an adjournment until Monday in order to facilitate a meeting with Rajiv Persad, his new attorney. The five are scheduled to go on trial at the Port-of-Spain Assizes, with Andre Ravi, for trafficking 542 kilos of cocaine at Orange Field Road, Freeport, on January 22, 2001. They were arrested in a major drug operation by officers of the OCNU at a warehouse on Orange Field Road, Carapichaima, where police reportedly seized 542 kilos of cocaine with an estimated street value of $204 million.