Freetown, 22 April-(ANA)-Sierra Leone authorities have extradited three foreigners convicted of drugs smuggling to the United States, where they face trial for further drugs offences.
The three men, a US national identified as Harvey Perez, Venezuelan Gerardo Perez and Colombian Alex Romeo, were handed over to agents of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the authorities said Wednesday.
The government said the men had been "previously indicted on drug-related charges" in the United States before they were sentenced here, and they are due to stand trial in New York.
"These men are well known drug runners and their names have been listed worldwide. I am not surprised that the US government has requested their extradition," Information Minister Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, who doubles as government spokesman, said.
The men were part of a group of fifteen people sentenced on Tuesday to up to five years in jail, with hefty fines for drug trafficking.
They tried to smuggle more than 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds) of cocaine into the country aboard a Venezuelan plane bearing a fake Red Cross emblem, which landed at Freetown's Lungi international airport on July 13, 2008.
The haul was a record for Sierra Leone and one of the biggest in the region last year. The authorities in the west African nation estimated the street value of the drugs at 200 million dollars (154 million euros).(ANA)
