24/04/2006
SOFIA, Bulgaria -- The government has extradited a Macedonian national and alleged leader of a major human trafficking ring to the United States. Nafi Elezi, 42, arrived in New York on Friday (21 April). He is charged with eight counts of smuggling Albanian and Macedonian nationals into the United States, allegedly charging up to $16,000 apiece. Investigators say Elezi's organisation first brought clients to Bulgaria and put them on planes to other European countries and then to Mexico, often using forged passports. The immigrants then crossed the US border at Texas. Elezi was arrested on the Bulgarian border last July. (AP, AFP, BBC, Reuters - 21/04/06)