No extradition request for Dataram – US Ambassador

United States Ambassador to Guyana, Perry Holloway said that his country has not made any attempt to have convicted drug lord Barry Dataram extradited to the US to face smuggling charges.
A few years ago, Dataram had successfully fought off an extradition attempt to the US after he was named in American court documents as a drug dealer.
However, with Dataram now in a Guyanese prison, Ambassador Holloway said there have been no renewed efforts by the US to have Dataram extradited there.
“Right now, Guyana has him…so I guess we will wait and see what Guyana does… We do not have any other charges currently against him in the United States. There had been an indictment, but that was many, many years ago and the indictment is not the same as being guilty so therefore we would only request extradition if there was indeed a trial and if he was found guilty. So right now there is no extradition request on its way; we are going to let Guyanese justice do what it needs to do first,” he stated.
Dataram and his reputed wife, Anjanie Boodnarine, along two others, Komal Charran and Trevor Gouveia, were charged jointly with the possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.
However, days before the ruling on the case was handed down, Dataram, who was previously granted High Court bail, and Boodnarine fled the country. After the couple failed to attend court on the previous scheduled days of sentencing (September 20 and September 23, 2016), the presiding Magistrate Judy Latchman issued arrest warrants for them and noted that she would proceed with her ruling in their absence.
As such, Dataram was sentenced to 60 months in jail and fined 4.2 million after he was found guilty in absentia of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
His three co-accused, including his reputed wife, were all freed of the joint charge, which stated that on April 16, 2015, at Fourth Avenue, Diamond, East Bank Demerara, they had 60.840 kilograms of cocaine in their possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Dataram was apprehended three weeks later in Suriname and transported back to Guyana, where he pleaded guilty to passport forgery, evading penalty and illegal departure, and was sentenced to another four years.