Alleged Narco-Terrorist Extradited to New York City: Sources

A man with alleged ties to an African-based terror organization connected to al-Qaeda was extradited to the United States Thursday to face federal narco-terrorism, narcotics trafficking, and firearms charges, law enforcement sources tell NBC New York.

David Cardona-Cardona, a native of Colombia living in Africa, was arrested last October in Croatia and will appear in federal court in Manhattan Friday, prosecutors say.

Cardona is named in a four count federal criminal complaint and a separate seven-count indictment, both filed in October, which describe a series of meetings he had with confidential DEA sources during which he allegedly arranged to supply cocaine to the law enforcement sources in return for weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, AK-47s, sniper rifles and ammunition that Cardona planned to provide to Ansar al-Dine, a group designated in 2013 by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization, court papers say.

Ultimately, the cocaine was intended to be sold throughout Europe, according to law enforcement sources.

Cardona allegedly told the DEA sources the purpose of the surface-to-air missiles was to shoot down manned and unmanned United States and allied aircrafts operating in West Africa, the papers say.

The investigation was conducted the DEA, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, and several law enforcement agencies outside the United States.

Attorney information for Cardona-Cardona was not immediately available.

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