UK cannabis seed trader fights deportation

MANILA, Philippines–A British cannabis seed trader detained at the Bureau of Immigration jail in Taguig City said Tuesday he would fight his deportation to the United Kingdom, saying that once he gets home, he would have to mount another legal battle against extradition to the United States, where he is wanted for drug trafficking and money laundering.

“I love this country. I want to stay here. The love of my life is here. I can’t sit here [under detention] for years. What are my children going to eat?” immigration detainee Gypsy Nirvana told the Inquirer in a phone interview.

Nirvana said he was worried how his Filipino wife, Leah, will raise their five children with him remaining in detention.

“If I’m deported, I might not be able to take them with me. Worse, I would have to face an expensive, protracted legal battle once I get back home because the US government will surely seek my extradition,” he added.

The charges against Nirvana stemmed from his cannabis seed trading activities through mail and online transactions. He was arrested by immigration agents in Olongapo City in August last year after the US court issued the warrant.

Nirvana, however, questioned the proceedings of the bureau, which ordered his deportation the following month. He said his business was legal in the UK, where cannabis seeds are not considered drugs.

The Court of Appeals, in a decision issued last month, authorized the Bureau of Immigration to deport Nirvana to the UK provided the plane would not pass through US jurisdiction.

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