Guyanese Dennis Edwards, called “Death,” a 38-year-old suspected drug trafficker, has been extradited from the Dominican Republic to the United States, and is to face drug trafficking charges.
Edwards arrived in the Dominican Republic on Monday, November 14, but was denied entry and deported by Dominican Republic authorities. He was placed on a US Government flight that landed at Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey, and was detained by US Government authorities at the airport upon his arrival there. He appeared in federal court in Newark on Tuesday, November 15, before US Magistrate Judge Edward S. Kiel, and is being held without bail.
According to court documents and statements, the US Government claims that Edwards was part of a criminal conspiracy that arranged for the importation of cocaine into the US.
The conspiracy charge against Edwards carries a minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison and a maximum fine of $10 million.
In 2010, the Guyana Police Force had issued bulletins for ten persons, including Edwards, in relation to a murder. Police had not specified which murders the men were being sought for, but the bulletins had come in the wake of three bullet-riddled attacks which had claimed the lives of eight people in the year 2010 and had ramped up pressure on the Police to solve the cases.
In a 2012 indictment, Edwards was charged with conspiring to import five kilogrammes or more of cocaine from St. Maarten into the United States.
