U.S. Customs Agents’ “Sting” of Cypriots in the Bahamas and Costa Rican Supreme Court’s Invalidation of U.S. Extradition Treaty Put Pressure on U.S. Extradition Policy

As the Clinton Administration begins its international criminal policy without an Attorney General, one issue that won’t await for the Administration’s attention is United States extradition policy. As the opinion by former Attorney General Barr has become available and shows weak jurisprudential basis for the U.S. abduction policy, a “sting” by U.S. Customs officials against a Cypriot in the Bahamas has resulted in a formal protest by the Costa Rican Supreme Court have raised attention to the deterioration of U.S. international criminal cooperation. If corrective action is not taken, the deterioration threatens to steamroll all the very time when the level and volume of international criminal activity requires more cooperation among governments… [more]