Brothers extradited after giving up fight
Published:Thursday | November 25, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter
TWO JAMAICAN brothers accused by United States authorities of conspiring to smuggle cocaine in the handrails of luggage into that country were extradited to the US on Monday night to face a number of charges, after abandoning appeals to the local Court of Appeal.
The Gleaner understands that Roger Folkes otherwise called 'Kirk', and his brother Romeo, also known as 'Rocky', issued a notice of discontinuance of their action in the Court of Appeal and were whisked away on Monday by US Drug Enforcement Administration personnel.
The Folkes brothers are charged with conspiracy to import and to export five kilos or more of cocaine, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and fines of up to US$4 million.
According to US law-enforcement officials, Roger and Romeo conspired to smuggle cocaine in the retractable handrails of luggage aboard commercial airlines from the West Indies to England via the United States.
The two alleged drug dealers were expected to appear before US magistrate judge Mark Falkson on a superseding indictment charging each of them with conspiracy to import and to export cocaine.
Roger, 39, and Romeo, 27, were arrested by the Fugitive Apprehen-sion Team in Jamaica in June last year.
Conspiracy
After their arrest in 2009, the brothers were later ordered extradited when they appeared before Resident Magistrate Stephanie Jackson-Haisley in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court.
According to documents filed in the case, the conspiracy involved drug couriers from the US who travelled to Jamaica and St Lucia, where Roger, Romeo and co-conspirator Mervin Francis would provide cocaine hidden in the handrails of the couriers' luggage.
The superseding indictment stems from a multijurisdictional and international investigation into the alleged narcotics trafficking ring.
Francis, 35, another Jamaican, was extradited from the United Kingdom to the US and appeared in a federal court to September 21, 2009. Francis pleaded guilty in April this year to a charge of conspiracy to import and export cocaine. On August 9 this year, he was sentenced to three years and four months in prison.