UK man appears in court on extradition request

A man has made an appearance in an Edinburgh courtroom after Belgium requested his extradition over his alleged involvement in the drug trade. Raymond Urquhart, 51, was taken into custody Wednesday at his home in Perth, roughly an hour’s drive north of Edinburgh, Scotland. Belgium made the request earlier this week. 

Urquhart faces charges related to cocaine and ecstasy, which he apparently referred to as fruit when he was speaking with a Belgian man heard in wiretap recordings. The conversations relating to large quantities of fruit resulted in Dutch police seizing a major shipment of ecstasy late last year.

When police raided the Belgian man’s home, they found more than a kilogramme of cocaine, along with a revolver. Urquhart is currently fighting the extradition request. He will make his next court appearance March 31.