With accused drug lord Samuel ‘Ninety’ Knowles now in the custody of US authorities in Florida, officials from the United States are hopeful that they will also be successful in getting 24 other people extradited. from The Bahamas to face charges, mainly in connection with alleged drug trafficking.
“If an individual commits a crime in another country, that country has the right to request extradition,” U.S. Ambassador John Rood recently pointed out in an interview with The Bahama Journal.
The United States is seeking the extradition of Austin Knowles, Nathaniel Knowles, Shawn Breuy, Ian Bethel, and Edson Watson, who have a habeas corpus application before the Supreme Court.
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal of Dwight and Keva Major, who are now appealing to the Privy Council.
Lemuel Gibson, also wanted on drug-related charges, is also appealing to the Privy Council.
Others fighting extradition on similar charges are Devroy Moss, Brian Deal, Lynden Deal, Trevor Roberts, Shanto Curry, Gordon Newbold, Sheldon Moore, Melvin Maycock Jr., Torry Lockhart, Laron Lockhart, Carl Culmer, Wilfred Ferguson, Avery Humes and Derek Rigby, whose cases are all before the magistrateﾒs courts.
Czech-born Viktor Kozeny is wanted in the United States to face bribery charges, and Henry Smith is wanted to face a sexual offense charge. Their cases are also before the magistrateﾒs courts.
All of the 24 people wanted in the United States are Bahamians, except Kozeny. Roughly half of that group is out on bail.
“Weﾒre confident [that these cases] will work through the system,” the US ambassador said.
” Again, these are international criminals. I know there are two individuals in the United States that are in various phases of either the legal process or discussion regarding extradition to The Bahamas, two individuals that committed crimes while in The Bahamas. And so, this goes both way.”
Mr. Rood believes the recent extradition of Knowles, though controversial, sent a clear message.
“I think it shows that The Bahamas and the United States have a law enforcement relationship that is second to none around the world,” he said.
Mr. Rood also noted that values shared by the two countries do not support trafficking in drugs.
“Weﾒre going to work very hard together to find those that are preying on our children, that are committing crimes and trafficking in drugs and weﾒre going to see that theyﾒre brought to justice,” he vowed.
The ambassador also indicated that he thought it was out of order for former US Ambassador J. Richard Blankenship to continue to make statements that are portrayed as being official statements of the US government.
“It does concern me when media outlets portray individuals in the United States as representing the official US government position,” he said.
“We represent the United States government. I represent the president and the government and if people want to find out our position on a matter weﾒre the ones who are going to provide that information.”
Mr. Blankenship was quoted in a Tribune article last week praising Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson for reportedly taking a tough approach to the Knowles extradition matter, and even suggesting that she could make a good prime minister.
But Mr. Rood thought those comments were out of line.
“There are certain issues that we donﾒt get involved in and I think itﾒs very important that as the ambassador here I donﾒt get involved in internal issues, and Iﾒve worked very hard to stay out of internal political issues, very hard to not get involved in issues that I believe that Bahamians should decide for themselves,” he said.
“So, I believe the Bahamian public may get confused when they see other individuals, private citizens from the United States, making comments and implying that theyﾒre speaking on behalf of the government.”
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
