Businessman facing extradition on drug charges seeks bail
Published:Friday | March 24, 2023 | 12:46 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
A parish court judge is to rule next Wednesday whether bail will be granted to a St Andrew businessman who is challenging his extradition to the United States on drugs charges.
Fifty-year-old Anthony Daniels is accused of being a major player in a drug-trafficking network operating out of Jamaica and the United States.
He was arrested last July along with three others who were busted in separate anti-narcotics operations by police-military teams in St James and St Andrew.
Daniels is wanted in the US on charges of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and two counts of distribution of five kilograms of cocaine or more.
Allegations are that between February and December of 2021, US authorities carried out an investigation into a drug-trafficking network operating out of Jamaica and Philadelphia, which led to the seizure of a quantity of cocaine at the Philadelphia International Airport. Investigations reportedly led to Daniels, and he was indicted.
Last July, when Daniels appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court to answer to the extradition request, his lawyer, Christopher Townsend, indicated that he would be contesting the extradition, and he was remanded.
Since then, the matter has been before the court for an extradition hearing.
However, Daniels’ defence team, which also includes Tom Tavares Finson, KC, recently applied to the court for bail.
On Tuesday, the team completed their application, but the prosecution, in objecting, reported that Daniels had attempted to escape custody since his arrest.
Consequently, the judge instructed the prosecution to bring evidence to substantiate its claim.
Tavares Finson argued during the application that the law allows for the parish judge to grant his client bail.
He further pointed out that the extradition hearing is likely to take some time before the court as the defence is contending that the evidence presented against Daniels does not meet the standard and does not warrant him being extradited.
According to Tavares Finson, the team is also contemplating bringing the matter further before the high court.
Meanwhile, Tavares Finson said the idea of granting bail to an individual who is being sought by the US is not novel and that another client, who is similarly wanted in the US, was recently granted bail by the court.