Busy Signal should be extradited to the United States before the end of the week. He will be tried for jumping bail while charged with drug trafficking. The case dates back to 2002.
Arrested as he stepped off the plane on his return from a European tour (news of 22/05/2012), Busy Signal has been held in Jamaica since. He has waived his right to an extradition hearing.
"On his arrival in the USA, he can only be tried for jumping bail," said his lawyer, KD Knight of Knight, Junior & Samuels, who revealed that the arrest warrant made no mention of any of the drug charges that hung over Busy Signal in 2002.
At the time, Busy Signal was accused of conspiracy to distribute and possess cocaine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
Busy Signal had been arrested after his co-defendant, Rayon Walker, agreed to cooperate with the police. Walker, arrested in Minneapolis (Minnesota) in possession of 1.2 kg of cocaine, had continued with the exchange of goods as planned, under the eye of the police. Busy Signal reportedly arrived the next day from Connecticut and, after several phone calls, joined him in his hotel, collecting the bag of cocaine before being arrested as he left the hotel.
The indictment states that Busy Signal is a US citizen. If that is indeed the case, the US government will be able to add new charges on his arrival in the USA without breaching the extradition treaty between the United States and Jamaica, which provides that no extradited Jamaican citizen shall be tried for any charge other than the one for which extradition was granted. In Busy Signal's case, the drug trafficking charges could therefore reappear.