Trinidad Terror Suspects have until December to Challenge Extradition

The three men suspected of plotting to bomb John F. Kennedy International Airport in 2006 have been given until December to respond to a U.S. request for their extradition from Trinidad.^[1] Abdul Kadir, Abdel Nur of Guyana and Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad face a December appeals court hearing ordered by Judge Nolan Bereaux.^[2] The fourth suspect in the plot, Russell Defreitas of Guyana, is currently in custody in the United States.^[3]

The group stands accused of participating in a terrorist cell which planned to destroy a jet fuel artery that runs through several residential neighborhoods on its way to facilitating JFK airport.^[4] The 40-mile long pipeline carries jet fuel from New Jersey and through the New York boroughs of Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens.^[5] New York’s LaGuardia International and Newark’s Liberty International airports are also serviced by the same pipeline.^[6] The plot of the pipeline’s destruction has been characterized by U.S. officials as one of the most chilling plots imaginable, capable of causing unfathomable damage, deaths and destruction.^[7]

The alleged plotters apparently and unsuccessfully sought help from both Jamaat al Muslimeen, a radical Islamic group, as well as aid from undisclosed sources in Iran.^[8] The group is charged with six federal charges of conspiracy, two of which are conspiracy to bomb a place of public use, government facility, public transportation system and infrastructure facility (namely JFK International Airport), and conspiracy to destroy an aircraft or aircraft facility.

Bombing of a Place of Public Use, Government Facility, Public Transportation System and Infrastructure Facility

This offense is governed by 18 U.S.C. § 2332f.^[9] A person commits the crime of conspiracy to bomb a place of public use, government facility, public transportation system and infrastructure facility when that person conspires or attempts^[10] to unlawfully deliver, place, discharge, or detonate an explosive or other lethal device in, into, or against a place of public use, a state or government facility, a public transportation system, or an infrastructure facility with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or with the intent to cause extensive destruction of such a place, facility, or system, where such destruction results in or is likely to result in major economic loss.^[11]

A person punished under this section shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, and if death results, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.^[12]

Destruction of Aircraft or Aircraft Facilities

This crime is governed by 18 U.S.C. § 32.^[13] A person commits the crime of conspiracy to destroy aircraft or aircraft facilities when that person conspires or attempts^[14] to willfully:

1. set fire to, damage, destroy, disable, or wreck any aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States or any civil aircraft used, operated, or employed in interstate, overseas, or foreign air commerce, or

2. place or cause to be placed a destructive device or substance in, upon, or in proximity to, or otherwise makes or causes to be made unworkable or unusable or hazardous to work or use, any such aircraft, or any part or other materials used or intended to be used in connection with the operation of such aircraft, if such placing or causing to be placed or such making or causing to be made is likely to endanger the safety of any such aircraft^[15]

A person punished under this section shall be fined or imprisoned up to twenty years or both.^[16]

Extradition between the United States and Trinidad and Tobago

Extradition between the U.S. and the dual nations of Trinidad and Tobago is governed by a treaty signed in 1997.^[17] The treaty is of the dual criminality type, which defines an extraditable offense as one punishable under the laws of both Contracting States by deprivation of liberty for a period of more than one year, or by a more severe penalty.^[18] The treaty also defines an extraditable offense to include an attempt or a conspiracy to commit, aiding or abetting, counselling, or procuring the commission of or being an accessory before or after the fact to an extraditable offense.^[19]

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^[1] AP Staff, Trinidad judge orders extradition hearing for JFK terror plot suspects , Associated Press Newswire, September 26, 2007, available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services[hereinafter AP].
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Four charged over JFK "Bomb Plot", BBC Newswire, 26, 2007, available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] AP, supra note 1.
^[9] 18 USC § 2332f
^[10] 18 USC § 2332f(a)(2)
^[11] 18 USC § 2332f(a)(1)
^[12] 18 USC § 2332a
^[13] 18 USC § 32
^[14] 18 USC § 32(a)(7)
^[15] 18 USC § 32(a)(1)-(2)
^[16] 18 USC § 32(a)
^[17] Extradition Treaty between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, S. Treaty Doc. 105-21, 1996 U.S.T. LEXIS 59.
^[18] Id. at Art. 2.
^[19] Id.