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Buruji Kashamu must face trial for drug trafficking, U.S. court rules

News Politics

Buruji Kashamu must face trial for drug trafficking, U.S. court rules

Trouble days are far from being over for Buruji Kashamu as a United State District Court has denied a motion by him to quash his indictment for smuggling drugs into the States.

In a copy of the ruling obtained by Sahara Reporters, the presiding Judge of the case,  Charles Norgle held that Mr. Kashamu, a Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and a close ally of President Goodluck Jonathan, had done everything within his power, including document forgery as well as political pressure, to frustrate his trial in the U.S.

“Kashamu’s actions in the London extradition proceeding created a paper and testimonial trail that his brother, and not himself, was the defendant charged in the instant case,” Judge Norgle said in his 17-page ruling.

“Kashamu’s ability to manipulate Nigerian officials, or at least his ability to create forged documents, was also apparent from the proceedings. This maneuvering, and the wall of protection Kashamu built around himself, made it clear that efforts to extradite Kashamu from Nigeria would be futile.

“It was testimony and evidence produced by the Nigerian government which led to Kashamu’s release in England. Furthermore, Kashamu’s status as a political figure in Nigeria and his relationship with Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan likewise suggest that an extradition attempt would have been futile,” the judge added.

In 2009, Mr. Kashamu had, through a local counsel in the U.S., filed a motion to quash the arrest warrant and to dismiss the indictment against him on the ground that the English court had found that he was not the one charged with smuggling drugs into the US.

It will be recalled that Kashamu and 14 others were, 1998, charged by a federal grand jury for their alleged involvement in an international conspiracy to smuggle heroin into the US. He managed to escape prosecution in the US as he bolted away to the United Kingdom where he also succeeded in escaping arrests before he returned to Nigeria.

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