US stepped out of bounds - Dudus' attorney

SOME UNITED States attorneys, including Steve Zissou, the lawyer representing accused Jamaica drug dealer Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, have criticised the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for the manner in which it has been building cases.

In an article published in The New York Times yesterday, the attorneys charge that the DEA has a tendency to "manufacture jurisdiction" in cases in which it would not otherwise exist and pursue people unfairly.

Coke's case and the initial refusal of the Jamaican Government to extradite the fugitive have been cited as one instance of the DEA stepping out of bounds.

"It's no longer the Southern District of New York," Zissou said. "It should be the Southern District of the World."

Another attorney, Melinda Sarafa, who is a lawyer for a Lebanese man brought from Honduras in a 2009 narco-terrorism case, was also perturbed.

"I find it profoundly troubling that US agents are spending their time setting up cases against individuals who do not represent actual threats to the United States," Sarafa said.