The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice has approved the extradition of former lieutenant colonel Lidio Arturo Nin Terrero and driver Tirso Cuevas Nin, requested by the United States in connection with the Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo case, according to a report in Listin Diario. Nin Terrero and Cuevas Nin were on the truck that was carrying 1,387 kilos of cocaine when it was seized 18 December 2004 in Santo Domingo. Paulino Castillo was extradited on 19 February 2005 and is awaiting trial in New York together with Dominicans Richard Pena Mejia, twins Jean Paul and David Ulloa, and Abel Burdiez, who, according to the accusation, were part of an international network that smuggled drugs into the US. The decision to extradite Nin Terrero and Cuevas Nin comes at a time of rumors about a plot to kill the former to prevent him from testifying in the US court. This plot allegedly involves powerful sectors that are connected with the case who have hired paid assassins. Meanwhile, US ambassador Hans Hertell said that his government is satisfied with the SCJ move to extradite the two alleged drug traffickers. Hertell said that the court had acted in accordance with procedures established by Dominican law.
Diaio Libre reports that Executive Branch Legal Consultant Cesar Pina Toribio said that he is only waiting for the sentence to arrive in order to prepare the Presidential decree authorizing the handover of the two suspects.
Hoy reports that ambassador Hertell has stated that the US judicial authorities will be requesting more extraditions of Dominicans involved with crimes in his country.