CARIBBEAN DRUG FIGURE LANDS IN U.S. CUSTODY

U.S. law enforcement agents yesterday took custody of a man alleged to be
the eastern Caribbean's most notorious drug trafficker, who was 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 brought 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.

U.S. law enforcement officials have long contended that Miller built a
drug-trafficking empire on the two Caribbean islands aimed at helping the
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 and lived in a hillside mansion.

But Miller apparently had provoked the government of St. Kitts and Nevis in
recent days, and his actions occurred 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.

St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Denzil L. Douglas said yesterday at a
news conference that over the last month or so "a prime source of national
concern and anxiety" has been Miller's "intimidating behavior."

"Within recent weeks . . . Mr. Miller started to pursue a course of conduct
which could only be detrimental to national security and the social and
economic well-being of the federation," he said. "The government recognized
that this continuing behavior strikes at the very core of its engine for
economic growth, which includes investment in the vital tourism industry."

Government officials said that 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 released
on $40,000 bail, officials said.

Officials said Miller waved a gun for two hours in the newsroom of the
Observer newspaper earlier this month while complaining about the coverage
he had received from the publication.

Douglas noted that Miller allegedly also had been involved in attempts to
"extort and blackmail" a number of other people, including local investors.

Last week, he 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 during a search. Douglas said that while appearing
before the Magistrate's Court Thursday in relation to firearms charges,
Miller waived his rights and stated his willingness to surrender to U.S.
authorities.

"He probably knew that his back was to the wall," one government official
said.

By then, however, the relevant steps had already been taken by the Douglas
administration to authorize Miller's "expulsion" from St. Kitts and Nevis.

Miller has been the subject of extradition proceedings in the St. Kitts
courts by the United States as long ago as May 1996. The U.S. government
had suffered several legal setbacks in trying to secure Miller's
extradition, but a recent ruling by a high court judge made the likelihood
of extradition more imminent.

Nonetheless, the Douglas government--for which the Miller case has been a
delicate balancing act between respecting the federation's justice system
and cooperating with the United States in the regional fight against drug
trafficking--said that, in expelling Miller, it used powers under the
constitution that in such instances supersede the authority of the courts.

Miller attracted wide attention in 1998, when the State Department declared
it had received information that he had threatened to kill American
veterinary students in St. Kitts if the United States was successful in
obtaining his extradition. The announcement set off a panic, and 50
students left the island.

Miller also has proved to be an embarrassment for U.S. officials, since
they had once given him immunity in a drug case and even an identity in the
witness-protection program.

In 1985, Miller, then known as Cecil Connor, was arrested in New York for
trafficking cocaine while working with the so-called Shower Posse, an
infamous Jamaican gang known for showering bullets on enemies. Miller
offered to cooperate with authorities, who were having trouble breaking the
gang.

Miller, in his testimony in the case, admitted to smuggling shipments of
marijuana and cocaine totaling a ton a month between Miami and New York.

He also admitted in court to participating in the killing of five people at
a Miami crack cocaine house in November 1984. One of those killed was a
pregnant woman who knelt in prayer as she was executed, according to court
documents. Miller said he did not kill anyone but carried a machine gun to
provide cover for the executioners.

After providing the testimony on the Jamaican gang, Miller vanished into
the witness protection program and then, in 1991, reappeared in St. Kitts.
That year he changed his name to Miller.

Kovaleski reported from Caracas.