Extradition requests are highly confidential processes – Foreign Ministry

See full statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation wishes to respond to an article which appeared in the Tuesday Edition of the Kaieteur News dated February 10, 2026, entitled, ‘Govt. denies new extradition requests from the U.S.’ and clarify certain matters therein.

On February 9, 2026, the Honourable Minister responded to a question from a Kaieteur News reporter as to whether there was another extradition request from the United States, in the context of the ongoing extradition proceedings regarding Messrs Azruddin Mohamed and Nazar Mohamed. Having seen previous reports from various news outlets on this issue, the Honourable Minister sought to clarify to the reporter that what was received from the United States on November 26 [sic] 2025 was not a new extradition request, but supplemental documents which were related to the formal request for the extradition of the Mohammeds received on October 30, 2025, as attested to by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Sharon Roopchand-Edwards in the ongoing proceedings.

For the avoidance of any confusion, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation wishes to state that extradition requests are primarily handled by the Ministry as a matter of procedure. The process begins when the Ministry receives a formal request, usually accompanied by prescribed supporting documentation, from a requesting State. The Ministry is responsible for processing these documents expeditiously and ensuring that they are dispatched to the Minister of Home Affairs or a designated official in that Ministry. For obvious security reasons, this is a highly confidential process and at no time does the Ministry make any public statement or comment on an extradition request when received.