Russia to seek Bout, Yaroshenko extradition from US
The Voice of Russia on April 12, 2012 released the following:
"Moscow will seek extradition of businessman Viktor Bout and pilot Konstatnin Yaroshenko from the US, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists in Washington, adding that he had discussed the issue with his US counterpart Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Lavrov said that Russia and the US are aware that such questions must be settled within the law.
Earlier this month a Federal District Court in Manhattan sentenced Bout to 25 years in prison after proclaiming him guilty of conspiring to kill Americans after trying to sell weapons to undercover American agents posing as members of a rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Russia condemned the verdict, calling it "baseless and biased".
Konstatnin Yaroshenko neither committed any crime but was extradited from Africa to face drug smuggling charges and face a 20-year prison term."
Douglas McNabb and other members of the U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, INTERPOL Red Notice Removal, International Extradition and OFAC SDN Sanctions Removal.
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Colombia captures alleged drug trafficker who pioneered use of submarines
Pocono Record on March 18, 2012 released the following:
"By Fox News Latino
BOGOTA, Colombia — A drug trafficker who pioneered the use of submarines to smuggle cocaine has been captured in southwestern Colombia, the National Police said.
Jose Samir Renteria, who is the subject of a US extradition request, was arrested in Cali, the capital of Valle del Cauca province.
Renteria has links to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, guerrilla group and the Los Rastrojos gang, US officials said.
The suspect got involved in the illegal drug trade in the mid-1980s, when he allegedly began smuggling cocaine into the US using speedboats that operated out of Colombia's Pacific coast.
Renteria became a partner of Neftali Umensa, one of the top leaders of the FARC's 30th Front, who was killed by the army on Oct. 20.
US investigators determined that Renteria also had contacts and did business with Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. Renteria, who is wanted on drug charges by a US federal court in Florida, is the subject of a Dec. 2, 2010, extradition request.
Colombian drug traffickers started using semi-submersibles in 1993. In that year, Colombia's navy seized one of the vessels off Providencia Island in the Caribbean.
The semi-submersibles cannot dive like normal submarines, but are equipped with valves that, when opened by the operators, quickly flood the vessel, causing it and any drugs on board to quickly sink to an unrecoverable depth.
The crew then jumps overboard and, since no drugs are discovered, they avoid prosecution.
Since 1993, Colombian security forces have seized more than 50 of the vessels.
In September 2011, a sub with the capacity to haul at least 10 tons of drugs to Central America was seized from the FARC on Colombia's southwestern Pacific coast by a police special operations unit."
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U.S. extradites Colombian accused of taking Americans hostage
CNN on March 12, 2012 released the following:
"By the CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) — U.S. authorities have extradited a suspect from Colombia whom they accuse of holding three American citizens hostage, the Justice Department said Monday.
Alexander Beltran Herrera, 35, was scheduled to be arraigned at 11:15 a.m. ET Monday in Washington on charges in connection with the hostage taking of Americans Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell.
Alleged leftist guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, abducted the three U.S. defense contractors in 2003, the Justice Department said. They were among 15 hostages freed in a 2008 rescue mission.
For part of a two-year period beginning in November 2004, Beltran Herrera was responsible for moving the hostages and keeping them imprisoned, the Justice Department said in a statement Monday.
"Throughout the captivity of these three hostages, FARC jailors and guards, including Beltran Herrera, used choke harnesses, chains, padlocks and wires to restrain the hostages, and used force and threats to continue their detention and prevent their escape," the statement said.
Beltran Herrera is an accused member of the FARC, the Justice Department said.
A federal indictment charges Beltran Herrera with one count of conspiracy to commit hostage taking, three counts of hostage taking, one count of using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of the charges.
The indictment names 17 other accused members of the FARC as defendants.
"Today's extradition underscores our resolve to hold accountable all those responsible for this crime and we will not rest until every one of them is brought to justice," said Lisa Monaco, assistant attorney general for national security, in a statement."
The author of this blog is Douglas McNabb. Please feel free to contact him directly at mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at one of the offices listed above.
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Update: Suspected Russian Arms Dealer's Extradition Delayed Until October
A suspected Russian arms dealer's extradition to the United States will be delayed at least until Oct. 4 to allow a Thai court to review new charges filed as a precaution by Washington, a judge said Friday.
The announcement by the Bangkok Criminal Court is the latest blow to Washington, which had expected Viktor Bout's rapid extradition after a Thai appeals court gave its approval on Aug. 20.
Bout, 43, is reputed to be one of the world's most prolific arms dealers.
His high-profile arrest in a 2008 U.S.-led sting operation in Bangkok ended a decade-long chase for the Russian, who has never been prosecuted despite being the subject of U.N. sanctions, a Belgian money-laundering indictment and a travel ban.
After last month's ruling, the U.S. quickly flew a plane to Bangkok to pick up Bout. The move was publicized in Thailand as the latest evidence of heavy U.S. pressure in a case that has turned into a diplomatic tug-of-war between Washington and Moscow.
Experts say Bout, a former Soviet air force officer, has knowledge of Russia's military and intelligence operations and Moscow does not want him to go on trial in the United States.
Bout has been indicted in the U.S. on four terrorism-related charges and faces possible life in prison. The U.S. indictment alleges Bout agreed to sell weapons to U.S. agents posing as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which Washington classifies as a terrorist organization. Bout denies the accusations.
The Bangkok Criminal Court in August 2009 rejected an initial U.S. extradition request in a ruling that stunned Washington. The U.S. responded by requesting an appeal but also filed new charges against Bout to keep him detained in case the lower court's ruling was upheld.
When the appeals court reversed the ruling last month, the U.S. moved to drop the second charges. However, under Thai law, a defendant has the right to object to charges against him being dropped, Criminal Court Judge Krerkrit Ittarat said. That means Bout could object to dropping the charges as a way to stall his extradition, a stance that his lawyer has said he will take.
The court said it previously set a date of October 4 for Bout to hear the new charges and will stick to that schedule.
The Department of Justice does not comment on pending extradition cases, but is probably anxiously awaiting the outcome of the October hearing.
Douglas McNabb and other members of the firm practice and write extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, Interpol Litigation, International Extradition and OFAC Litigation.
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Russian Arms Dealer May Avoid U.S. Extradition; Thai Appeals Court to Rule on Friday
The suspected Russian arms dealer known as "The Merchant of Death" is tired of prison life but optimistic a Thai appeals court will rule in his favor Friday and refuse to extradite him to the United States, his lawyer said.
Viktor Bout, a 43-year-old former Soviet air force officer, is reputed to be one of the world's most prolific arms dealers. He has been linked to some of modern history's most notorious conflicts, allegedly supplying weapons that fueled civil wars in South America, the Middle East and Africa to clients such as former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Bout's high-profile arrest in a 2008 U.S. sting operation in Bangkok ended nearly a quarter-century of cat-and-mouse chases for the elusive Russian. It also raised Washington's hopes for a quick handover of a man who has never been prosecuted despite being the subject of U.N. sanctions, a Belgian money-laundering indictment and a travel ban.
Instead, it spurred a diplomatic tug-of-war between Moscow and Washington that led to lengthy delays and prompted a lower court judge to seek input from the Foreign Ministry, saying he was in "a tough position" and feared ties with both countries could be at stake. The Bangkok Criminal Court ultimately rejected the U.S. extradition request in August 2009.
Experts say Bout — who gained notoriety in the 1990s for running a fleet of aging Soviet-era cargo planes to conflict-ridden hotspots in Africa — has been useful for Russia's intelligence apparatus, and Moscow does not want him going on trial in the United States.
Bout has repeatedly denied the accusations and claims his air cargo business was legitimate.
The 2005 Nicolas Cage film, "The Lord of War," is widely believed to be modeled after Bout's life.
The Russian's own nickname was coined in 2000 when a high-ranking minister at Britain's Foreign Office dubbed him "The Merchant of Death" for his alleged arms role in Africa.
Bout's March 2008 arrest at a Bangkok luxury hotel came after an elaborate operation led by U.S. agents posing as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which Washington classifies as a terrorist organization. The four-month investigation involved meetings in Curacao, Denmark and Romania.
After his arrest, Bout was indicted in the U.S. on charges of conspiring to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to FARC, including more than 700 surface-to-air missiles, thousands of guns, high-tech helicopters and airplanes outfitted with grenade launchers and missiles.
The lower Thai court said it rejected the U.S. extradition request because Thailand considers the FARC a political movement and not a terrorist group, and that extradition could not be granted for a political offense.
Thai prosecutors appealed the decision on Washington's request. In February, U.S. prosecutors filed new charges in hopes of convincing reluctant Thai officials to extradite Bout despite Russia's objections.
The new charges say Bout and his former business associate, Richard Chichakli, used a series of front companies to purchase two planes from U.S. companies in 2007, in violation of U.S. and United Nations sanctions. At the time, U.S. officials intervened to block the sale.
Russia, for its part, made great efforts to get Bout out of Thailand — and when that failed tried to make his stay more comfortable.
Both Washington and Moscow have accused the other of trying to win Bout's release by bribing Thai officials — a common practice in a country where the judiciary is notoriously corrupt. Russia, which sold cheap oil to Thailand after Bout's arrest and has talked of selling it fighter jets, summoned the Thai ambassador in Moscow at one point and the country's foreign ministry demanded the case be investigated objectively and impartially.
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