Leader of 2004 Haitian coup extradited to U.S. on drug rap

Record ID: 163274

  • Title: Leader of 2004 Haitian coup extradited to U.S. on drug rap
  • Date: 6th January 2017
  • Summary: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (FILE - MARCH, 2004) (REUTERS) HAITIAN POLITICIAN AND THE COUP LEADER, GUY PHILIPPE, BEING CARRIED ON THE SHOULDERS OF SUPPORTERS DURING A RALLY PHILIPPE SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS (NOT A BITE) PHILIPPE GREETING SUPPORTERS AT RALLY FROM THE SUNROOF OF A CAR DRIVING THROUGH CROWD REBEL SUPPORTERS CHEERING AND HOISTING PHILIPPE ONTO THEIR SHOULDERS SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE GATE OF MILITARY HEADQUARTERS LOOKING IN VARIOUS OF PHILIPPE GREETING CHEERING SUPPORTERS THROUGH GATE PHILIPPE SPEAKING (NOT A BITE) SUPPORTERS WAVING AT GUY PHILIPPE PHILIPPE WAVING AT SUPPORTERS AND STANDING ON BALCONY OF MUSEUM IN MILITARY COMPOUND WIDE OF PHILIPPE WAVING FROM BALCONY PHILIPPE SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS, DRESSED IN MILITARY FATIGUES VARIOUS OF PHILIPPE MEETING WITH OTHER REBEL LEADERS AND POLICE OFFICERS PHILIPPE DURING AN INTERVIEW PHILIPPE SPEAKING (NOT A BITE)
  • Embargoed: 21st January 2017 15:18
  • Keywords: Haiti coup Guy Philippe Jean-Bertrand Aristide United States U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration DEA
  • Location: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
  • City: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
  • Country: Haiti
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015XY19HF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A Haitian politician and former coup leader was arrested and extradited on Thursday (January 5) to the United States, where he is wanted for alleged drug trafficking and money laundering, authorities said.
    Guy Philippe, who led a coup that drove Jean-Bertrand Aristide from the presidency in 2004, had been due to take up his seat in the Senate on Monday, which could have afforded him immunity from some criminal proceedings.
    Joris Mergelus, head of the anti-drug unit in the Caribbean nation, said Philippe was arrested by police acting on an international warrant for drug trafficking.
    Philippe, who was elected senator from the south-western Grand Anse region on November 20, was picked up after giving a radio interview in Petionville, near the capital, Port-au-Prince.
    Garry Desrosiers, spokesman for the Haitian national police, said that while agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration did not participate in the operation, they were at the police station where Philippe was taken.
    Philippe was later put on a plane in Port-au-Prince and extradited to the United States, a Haitian official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
    Philippe was suspected in 2015 of involvement in an attack on a police headquarters in the southern city of Les Cayes in which at least six people were killed.
    Haitian officials issued a warrant for Philippe's arrest over the incident, but his lawyers said it was invalid because he was a candidate in the November election.
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