José Américo Bubo Na Tchuto (born 12 June 1949 Incalá,

Tombali Region Tombali is one of the eight regions in Guinea-Bissau. It is located in the extreme south of the country and its capital is Catió. There has not been any local administration since the civil war of 1998-99 and all social services are done by or ...

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ), ...

) is an admiral in the Navy of Guinea-Bissau. He was previously Chief of Staff of the Navy. On August 6, 2008, he was behind a failed coup attempt against President

João Bernardo Vieira João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira (; 27 April 1939 – 2 March 2009) was a Bissau-Guinean politician who was the President of Guinea-Bissau from 1980 to 1999, except for a three-day period in May 1984, and from 2005 to 2009. After seizing power ...

. He fled to the Gambia after the coup before returning to Guinea Bissau in 2009 following Vieira's assassination.

Arrest

Bubo Na Tchuto was captured in international waters near Cape Verde on 2 April 2013 during an operation by North American and Cape Verdian police, and extradited to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

for trial in the

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New ...

. He was charged on 5 April with conspiring to import drugs into the U.S., while several co-conspirators were charged with conspiring to engage in narco-terrorism, import drugs into the U.S., and provide aid to

FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...

by storing its cocaine in West Africa. According to prosecutors, Bubo na Tchuto suggested the time was ripe to use Guinea-Bissau to smuggle contraband after the 2012 Guinea-Bissau coup d'etat.

References

Living people Bissau-Guinean military personnel Prisoners and detainees of Guinea-Bissau Bissau-Guinean prisoners and detainees 1949 births {{Africa-mil-bio-stub