LEBERT Ramcharan, described by US President George W Bush as a 'drug kingpin', and Donovan 'Plucky' Williams on Friday lost their appeals against extradition to the US in the Appeal Court.

Immediately after the decision, Ramcharan's brother, Councillor Answerd Ramcharan (JLP, Red Hills division), told the Sunday Observer that they would be appealing to the Privy Council, as his brother was no drug trafficker.

Lebert Ramcharan (left) being led into court in 2004 by a policeman.

"It's really a concocted thing. We are going to take it to the Privy Council for the fact that justice was not served," said Councillor Ramcharan. "It's very clear to me that these guys don't know what they are doing."

Lebert Ramcharan and Williams were ordered extradited in the Half-Way-Tree Criminal Court in June 2005 by Resident Magistrate Martin Gayle, but applied for judicial review of the extradition order.
The men's applications were dismissed after which they went to the Appeal Court.

The two, who are wanted by US prosecutors on drug trafficking charges, were held by narcotics agents in March 2004 as part of an international crackdown on the cocaine trade.

The provisional charges included possession of cocaine and conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine and attempting to import 1,422 pounds (647 kilograms) of cocaine into the United States. However, the court dropped the third charge because of insufficient evidence.

US prosecutors alleged that Ramcharan and Williams smuggled millions of dollars worth of cocaine into the US through their Colombian connections.

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