An indictment unveiled by the U.S. Attorney's Office said
Francois placed the political and military hierarchy of Haiti's
former military government under his control to ship thousands
of kilos of cocaine and heroin to the United States.

He was arrested in Honduras and was likely to arrive in
Miami under escort Saturday, law enforcement sources said.
Francois is believed to have been the mastermind behind the
September 1991 coup that toppled Haitian President JeanBertrand
Aristide. He fled to the Dominican Republic in 1994 after U.S.
troops invaded the Caribbean nation to restore Aristide to
power.

He became the capital's police chief after the 1991 coup and
developed a network of plainclothes policemen, or ``attaches'',
who instigated a reign of terror against opponents of the
military regime.

The 13count indictment said: ``As one of the de facto
leaders of the Republic of Haiti Jospeh Michel Francois placed
the political and military structure under his control.''

``It was the purpose and object of the conspiracy to
establish a cocaine and heroin transportation and distribution
network through the Republic of Haiti employing in large part
the political and military institutions of that country.''

The network operated from June 1987 to about September last
year. The indictment said it moved 33 tonnes of drugs in to the
United States and Francois recived millions of dollars in
payments from the cartels for his role.

Among the drug barons he plotted with was Pablo Escobar, the
late head of the Medellin cartel who was gunned down by
Colombian security forces in December 1993.

According to the indictment, Francois had an airstrip built
on the property of Haitian Colonel Jean Claude Paul for use by
planes landing from Colombia laden with cocaine.

He also appointed Marc Valme as chief of the PortauPrince
international airport to facilitate the smuggling. Other
shipments went through ports also run by Francois cronies.

Valme was one of 13 people listed on the indictment, 10 of
whom are already in custody in Miami. Another is Evens Gourgue,
a security worker at Miami International Airport. He is accused
of helping drugs couriers get through customs at the airport.

Charges against the various defendants also include money
laundering and distributing narcotics in the United States.

One of those indicted, Fritz Lafontante, made a brief
appearance in a Miami district court on Friday. He was ordered
held without bond. Gourgue was due to appear but U.S. marshalls
kept him out of the courtroom after he claimed he was suffering
from tuberculosis. He remained in custody.
In PortauPrince, Haitian justice officials said they would
seek Francois' return to face charges of murder and other human
rights abuses.

``We will seek his extradition,'' said Justice Ministry
advisor Jerome Jean Noel. ``This is a person that Haitian
justice has been looking for for quite some time.''
Francois is alleged to have had close links with the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency and he trained at U.S. military
installations in Georgia and Texas in the 1980s.