Four foreign nationals convicted of trafficking 2.63 metric tons of cocaine in Guinea-Bissau last September have been transferred to the United States to face additional charges, the U.S. Justice Department confirmed on Friday.
Ramon Manriquez Castillo, a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen; Mexican citizen Edgar Rodriguez Ruano; Ecuadorian Fernando Javier Escobar Tito; and Colombian Anderson Jair Gamboa Nieto were charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine through several countries, including Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, the Bahamas, and Guinea-Bissau, between November 2023 and September 2024.
The men were sentenced to 17 years in prison in Guinea-Bissau in January following a record drug bust, “Operation Landing.” They were convicted alongside Brazilian Marlos Balcacar, who died in March.
On Thursday, the four men appeared in a Florida court, facing charges related to large-scale cocaine distribution using a U.S.-registered airplane. If convicted in the U.S., they face sentences ranging from 10 years to life in federal prison.
The men were transferred to a U.S. prison on Wednesday under a mutual agreement, with Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Cissoko Embalo confirming the move on Thursday. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) requested the transfer for security reasons, as Guinea-Bissau lacks high-security prisons.
Embalo emphasized that the transfer demonstrates Guinea-Bissau’s commitment to combating drug trafficking, stating that the country is no longer considered a “narco state.” Although Guinea-Bissau does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S., Embalo said the government would cooperate on international arrest warrants.
In September 2023, Bissau-Guinean authorities seized 2.63 metric tons of cocaine from a Gulfstream IV aircraft arriving from Venezuela at Bissau’s main airport, marking one of the country’s largest drug busts.