Can You Be Extradited to or From Florida on Drug Charges?

No one is relieved to find out that the state is charging them with possession of illegal drugs unless the alternative is being charged with a more serious crime, such as drug trafficking.  Drug trafficking charges are serious business, because it is rare that the problem begins and ends in Florida.  A more likely scenario is that your case will go through federal court.  Because drug trafficking investigations often involve multiple states, a defendant may be indicted in one state, where he or she was visiting, but he or she may have since returned home.  If the defendant gets arrested in his or her home state because of an active warrant in the state that issued the indictment, the home state may extradite the defendant to the other state to enter a plea and perhaps face trial.  Extradition can also happen across international borders, as drug trafficking cases often involve people transporting drugs across international borders or selling them online and shipping them by international mail.  If you have been arrested in Florida because you are being accused of drug crimes in another state or another country, contact a Florida drug offenses attorney.

What is Extradition, and How Does the Extradition Process Work?

Extradition is when one state or country that has taken a defendant into custody transfers him or her to another jurisdiction where the defendant is facing criminal charges or has been convicted; some extradition cases, but not all, involve fugitives.  Extraditing defendants between states is usually simple and straightforward; for example, after a traffic stop, police can easily find out if another state has an active warrant out for your arrest.

On the other hand, international extradition can only happen if the two countries have signed an extradition treaty.  Most countries, but not all, have extradition treaties with the United States.  Some extradition treaties, known as dual criminality treaties, allow extradition for all crimes that both countries classify as felonies, while others, known as list treaties, only apply to the offenses specifically mentioned in the treaty.

For example, in 2019, Nelson Pablo Yester-Garrido was extradited from Italy to Florida, where he eventually pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges.  His criminal case, involving the illegal importation of cannabis to the United States, went all the way back to the 1980s and spanned several countries.  Yester-Garrido was arrested in Italy in 2017, but he spent two years in prison there before the U.S. and Italian governments worked out the details of his extradition.  An extradition case can only go through if the two governments are persuaded that the defendant will get a fair trial in the jurisdiction to which he or she is being extradited.

Contact FL Drug Defense Group About Drug Cases

A Central Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing drug trafficking charges, and you could face extradition because the case involves more than one country.  Contact FL Drug Defense Group in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.

Sources:

2009-2017.state.gov/s/l/16164.htm#:~:text=A%20new%20U.S.%2DColombia%20extradition,trafficking%20and%20other%20transnational%20crimes.

dea.gov/press-releases/2020/08/11/international-fugitive-extradited-italy-pleads-guilty-drug-charge