THE US State Department yesterday blasted Jamaica for its indecision in the extradition request for Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke to face drug trafficking charges in America, saying that it brought into question the island’s commitment to law enforcement co-operation and highlighted the potential depth of corruption in the Government.

“Jamaica’s processing of the extradition request has been subjected to unprecedented delays, unexplained disclosure of law enforcement information to the press, and unfounded allegations questioning the US’ compliance with the MLAT (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty) and Jamaican law,” said the State Department in its annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report released yesterday.

According to the report, until August 2009, the extradition treaty between Washington and Kingston had been actively and successfully used to extradite suspected criminals from Jamaica. Extradition requests, it said, were routinely and timely processed by Jamaican political and judicial authorities.

“The Government of Jamaica’s unusual handling of the August request for the extradition of a high-profile Jamaican crime lord, with reported ties to the ruling Jamaica Labour Party, which currently holds a majority in Parliament, on alleged drug and firearms trafficking charges marked a dramatic change in Kingston’s previous co-operation on extradition, including a temporary suspension in the processing of all other pending requests and raises serious questions about the Government’s commitment to combating transnational crime,” the State Department said.

“The high-profile suspect resides in and essentially controls the Kingston neighbourhood known as Tivoli Gardens, a key constituency for the Jamaica Labour Party,” said the report.

The US also labelled Jamaica as the Caribbean’s largest supplier of marijuana to the United States as well as a transshipment point for cocaine entering South America.

“The Government of Jamaica’s ambitious anti-corruption and anti-crime legislative agendas announced in 2007 remain stalled in Parliament,” said the report.

“Five anti-crime proposals under consideration as part of an extensive agenda to address the widespread crime challenges have yet to be debated by Parliament,” added Washington, which noted that Jamaica is a party to the 1988 United Nations Drug Convention.

At the same time, the US said drug-related arrests were relatively stagnant at 6,346 arrests for 2009, while drug seizure levels showed a dramatic decrease with approximately nine metric tonnes of marijuana seized, compared to nearly 32 metric tonnes in 2008.

While pointing out that Jamaica does not facilitate or encourage illicit production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions, the US said pervasive public corruption continued to undermine efforts against drug-related and other crimes. Public corruption, it added, plays a major role in the safe passage of drugs and drug proceeds through Jamaica.

“For the first time, corruption ranked first to crime and violence as the area of greatest concern for Jamaicans. It remains the major barrier to improving counter-narcotics efforts,” the Americans said, adding that Jamaica’s delay in processing the extradition request for Coke “highlights the potential depth of corruption in the Government”.

The State Department also noted that a bill creating an Anti-Corruption Special Prosecutor remains stuck in Parliament despite having the requisite legislative majority needed for passage.

“There has not been legislative action to create a National Anti-corruption Agency, which could satisfy the Inter- American Convention against Corruption’s requirements,” the State Department said.