The lawyer of a Kiwi arrested in Colombia for drug trafficking says it's possible he may be tried in South America for the same charge he was found not guilty of in New Zealand.
Peter Leaitua, who is wanted by Argentinian authorities for a drug trafficking case dating back to 2011, was apprehended by police in Medellin, according to El Tiempo.
His lawyer, Chris Wilkinson-Smith, says he has been in contact with Leaitua's family, but has yet to talk to him directly.
"I was aware that even though he'd been acquitted by a New Zealand jury that the Argentinian authorities didn't seem to accept that and they're pursuing him to try and extradite him," he says.
Leaitua, a kickboxer, had been charged after flying from Argentina to New Zealand with his wife, children and mother-in-law in 2011. His mother-in-law died after the family arrived in New Zealand, with an autopsy revealing she had 26 capsules of cocaine in her stomach and overdosed when one of the capsules exploded.
In 2014, Leaitua was found not guilty of importing $200,000 worth of cocaine to New Zealand. It was the second trial for Leaitua, after a jury failed to reach a verdict in a trial earlier that year.
Mr Wilkinson-Smith says it's possible Leaitua could face the same charges he was found not guilty of in New Zealand.
"I can speculate that that may be reason he's been detained, that he's still had some flag on his immigration passport and that's what the Colombians have simply detained him on but I haven't spoken to him directly to confirm that."
Argentinian police accuse Leaitua of being involved in a drug smuggling ring in Latin America, according to Clarin.
Mr Wilkinson-Smith says the New Zealand Government's options may be "limited" in getting involved in an Argentinean request to Colombia regarding Leaitua's case.
He says that Leaitua, who had family in both New Zealand and Colombia as well as in Australia - was "very happy" after the non-guilty verdict and "hoping to make a fresh start of it now that he wasn't facing a lengthy term of imprisonment.
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