A major foul-up by the Jamaican authorities has resulted in the Court of Appeal ordering that a Jamaican man should not be extradited to the United States to face drug charges.

He is Prestley Bingham, also called 'Pressa', businessman of Lilliput, St. James.

Bingham, who was indicted in the U.S. along with St. Ann businessman Norris 'Deedo' Nembhard and several others to face drug charges, had waived his right last year to an extradition hearing.

In accordance with the Extradition Treaty, he should have been sent to the U.S. within 60 days of waiving his rights, but that was not done.

This week, attorney-at-law Jacqueline Samuels-Brown took the matter to the Court of Appeal which upheld legal submissions that the authorities did not comply with the Extradition Act. The court ordered that Bingham should be released immediately.

Bingham was described by U.S. prosecutors as a major player in the drug trade.

He was held in Jamaica in May 2005 by members of the Fugitive Apprehension Team during a crackdown on alleged drug kingpins and drug dons in Montego Bay.

He was indicted by a U.S.Grand Jury in 2004, along with Nembhard, Claxford Morris, Robroy Williams and five others who are now facing extradition to the U.S.

The U.S. prosecutors alleged that Bingham conspired with others to smuggle cocaine and more than 1,000 kilogrammes of ganja into Florida.