ALLEGED DRUG LORD DENIED BAIL

A reputed Haitian drug lord was ordered held without bail Wednesday on
charges that he coordinated the movement of 33 tons of Colombian drug
shipments through Haiti on their way to the United States.

Beaudoin "Jacques" Ketant was indicted six years ago but lived the good
life in a hilltop Haitian mansion until a brawl at his son's elite school
pushed the Haitian government to expel him last month.

Ketant, 40, is accused of paying off one-time Haitian strongman Joseph
Michel Francois as well as airport employees in Miami, New York and
Port-au-Prince to ignore cocaine and heroin couriers.

At an earlier hearing in Miami federal court, Ketant pleaded not guilty to
drug conspiracy and distribution, money laundering conspiracy and
racketeering charges carrying a possible 20-year prison sentence.

Ketant allegedly arranged for drug couriers to transport cocaine for the
Cali, Medellin and Baranquilla cartels from Colombia, Panama and Curacao
through Haiti to the United States from 1987 to 1996.

Francois, then Port-au-Prince's police chief, was never tried. He was seen
as the power behind Haiti's ousted military rulers and was granted
political asylum in Honduras.