Drug accused faces life in US jail

Mohammed and Ronald Rackal were escorted to Florida on May 5 by four US Marshals to face a total of five Grand Jury charges.

Mohammed appeared before Judge James Cohn in the United States District Court in Fort Lauderdale where he pleaded guilty, according to the terms of a plea agreement.

Mohammed appeared in the same building in which Jamaat Al Muslimeen member Lance Small appeared in May when he was found guilty by a 12-member jury of conspiring to export 60 AK-47 weapons, ten Mac-10 guns, and ten silencers in May 2000. Mohammed faces ten years to life. Rackal will appear before the same judge on Tuesday and it is expected that he will also plead guilty to the charges.

They are charged with conspiring to traffic cocaine, and the importing and exporting of cocaine between November 30, 2000, and January 22, 2001.

Mohammed and Rackal were arrested and charged with Jitman Sookdeo, 35, Ramesh Doon, 21, and Indaryartee Dwarika after they were allegedly found by members of the Organised Crime and Narcotics Unit at a warehouse at Orange Field Road, Freeport, on January 22, 2001, with 509 kilos of cocaine stacked among cassava.

The day before they were due to go on trial at the Port-of-Spain High Court, the five were arrested on a provisional warrant for extradition to the US.

Rackal, Mohammed and Dwarika were later ordered to be extradited by Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls, but Dwarika filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus challenging her extradition.

However, on June 16, Madame Justice Judith Jones dismissed the habeas corpus application, paving the way for Dwarika to be extradited. That is expected to take place soon.

Doon’s hearing comes up on Tuesday in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court. While out on bail, Sookdeo fled and is believed to be hiding in a South American country.