Togo has agreed to extradite to the U.S. an alleged druglord from Colombia who was arrested trying to smuggle hundreds of pounds (kilograms) of cocaine through this West African nation last year.
The government said in a statement broadcast on state television late Thursday that the U.S. had requested Solano Cortez Jorge be brought to the U.S. to face trial on charges of trafficking drugs through numerous countries.Jorge was arrested by Togo's Anti-Drugs Narcotics Control Squad in October with seven other Colombians. The group was found with 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) kilograms of cocaine near the seaport in the capital, Lome.
The statement said Jorge is believed to be the head of an international gang of Colombian traffickers who intended to use an airport in northern Togo as a transit point for smuggling cocaine to Europe.
The statement said nationals from Costa Rica, South Africa, Ghana and Togo had been working with the Colombians.
West Africa has increasingly become a transit point for drugs headed to Europe in recent years. Cocaine, mostly from Colombia, is brought on small planes and dropped on islands off the little-policed Atlantic Ocean coast, then distributed to couriers who carry it into Europe.
A LIRE AUSSI
Faure Gnassingbe takes over ECOWAS chairmanship
The occasion was colorful with the presence of twelfth West African leaders and delegations attending the 51st Ordinary ECOWAS Summit.
World Bank : new strategy for Togo
In EnglishThe Board of the World Bank Group today discussed a new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Togo covering the period from July 2016 to June 2020.
IL NE FALLAIT PAS MANQUER
L’Etat n’a pas les moyens de répondre à toutes les doléances
SocialLe malaise au sein du ministère de la Fonction publique est réel et des problèmes se posent concernant les conditions de travail.
Forêts : le Togo opte pour la convergence
EnvironnementLe Togo adhère pleinement au plan de convergence pour la gestion et l’utilisation durables des écosystèmes forestières dans l'espace Cédéao.
Accompagner la décentralisation
CoopérationL’Union européenne et l’Allemagne vont financer pour 19 millions d’euros un programme de décentralisation et de gouvernance locale.
Talents maison
CultureLe groupe Toofan et l’artiste Almok sont nominés pour l'Afrimma, une compétition qui récompense les meilleurs artistes d’Afrique.
Commentaires
Loading comments ...