Alleged Drug Trafficker Extradited From St. Kitts

U.S. law enforcement agents Saturday took custody of a man alleged to be the eastern Caribbean’s most notorious drug trafficker and wanted on drug charges in this country for the last four years.

Charles “Little Nut” Miller was extradited from the Caribbean islands of St. Kitts and Nevis and taken to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., by agents of the U.S. Customs Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“This is a significant arrest,” said Dean Boyd, a spokesman for Customs, which issued an arrest warrant for Miller after he was indicted in 1995 on charges that he had conspired to import more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine through Miami.

Miller has been the subject of extradition proceedings in the St. Kitts courts by the United States as long ago as May 1996. U.S. law enforcement officials have long contended that Miller built and ruthlessly controlled a drug-trafficking empire on the two Caribbean islands that is aimed at helping Colombian drug cartels transfer narcotics into the United States and Europe.

Miller disputed the allegations and seemed beyond the reach of the law. He operated several businesses in St. Kitts, lived in a hillside mansion and drove luxury cars.

But he apparently had provoked the government of St. Kitts and Nevis in recent days, and his actions came not only during a time of worsening crime on the islands but also at the height of the political season leading up to March’s general election.

Government officials said local police arrested Miller several weeks ago after he turned himself in to authorities for allegedly firing five shots at a man who supposedly owed him money. Miller was charged with shooting with the intent to kill in the Jan. 21 incident and was then released on $40,000 bail, officials said.

Denzil Douglas, St. Kitts and Nevis’ prime minister, noted that Miller allegedly also had been involved in attempts to “extort and blackmail” a number of other people, including local investors.

Last week, Miller was arrested again along with two other men when police pulled over their car and found two firearms, a large amount of ammunition and some marijuana in the vehicle during a search. Douglas said that, while appearing before the Magistrate’s Court on Thursday in relation to firearms charges, Miller waived his rights and stated his willingness to surrender to U.S. authorities.