A man who got on the
wrong side of the Arellano Felix Cartel: Mexico's government is now
engaged in a feroicious battle against organized crime, in good measure
with funds provided by the United States government. As Colombia has
done, Mexico has begun sending some of their most dangerous outlaws to
the United States.
Juan Espinosa, alias El Tigre,
the romantic partner of the Queen of the Pacific [Sandra Avila Beltran ],
Jesus El ChuyLabra, along
with two other suspected members of the Tijuana Cartel, and three from the Golfo Cartel, are among those extradited.
Mexico City, Federal
District: The government of Mexico has extradited to the United States, ten
alleged members of organized crime, including members of the Gulf and Arellano
Felix Cartels [also known as the Tijuana Cartel], the Attorney General's Office
announced Thursday [Dec. 31].
[Editor's Note: According to
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Arellano Felix Cartelof Tijuana is controls smuggling across the
border to California, is among the most violent of the Mexican organizations
and has been connected by Mexican officials to the violent death of Cardinal
Juan Jesus Posadas-Ocampo, who was killed in the
crossfire of rivals drug gangs at Guadalajara Airport in 1993. During 1994, the
group was engaged in a turf battle over methamphetamine territory in San Diego.
Twenty-six homicides were committed during one summer as rival groups battled
over trafficking regions. The Gulf Cartelis based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas State. It
distributes cocaine into the United States as far north as Michigan, New Jersey
and New York. DEA has reports that this organization has smuggled in excess of
30 tons of cocaine into the United States.]
Among the extradited suspects
were Jesus Labra Aviles, aka ChuyLabra of the Tijuana Cartel; Armando Martinez
Duarte and Efrain Perez Arciniega, alias El Efra,
and Jorge Aureliana Felix, alias Macumba.
All are members of the Tijuana criminal organization headed by the Arellano
Felix brothers, and face charges of engaging in organized crime, criminal
association and crimes against health. The proceedings against the alleged drug
traffickers were conducted at the Federal District Court of Southern
California, the Attorney General's office said.
From
left to right, members of the Arellano Felix Cartel
[aka
the Tijuana Cartel] who have been extradited to the
United
States: Jorge Aureliano Felix, aka Macambra; Efrain
Perez
Arciniega, aka El Efra; Jesus Labra Aviles, aka Chuy
Labra; and Fidel Chan Amador,
member of another group.
Members of the Gulf Cartel
who were transferred to U.S. territory are Juan Carlos de la Cruz Reyna, alias El
JC, Ruben Sauceda
Rivera and Juan Manual Barrientos. The first two will
be prosecuted before the Federal Court for the Southern District of Texas,
while Manuel Barrientos will appear before a similar
tribunal in Georgia.
Another of those who have
been extradited is a Colombian, Juan Diego Espinosa Ramirez, alias El Tigre,
who is the romantic partner of the Queen of the Pacific [Reina del Pacifico] and presumed member of the Norte del Valle
Cartel of Colombia. He'll be charged with criminal association and crimes
against health at the Federal District Court of South Florida.
Completing the list are Fidel
Chan Amador and Luis Octavio Arellano Enciso, who belong to various criminal groups and are
wanted by California authorities.
Arrest warrants for crimes
punishable in the United States have been issued against all of the extradited
suspects
Before and after shots of Mexican beauty Queen
Laura Zuniga, the latest victim of Mexico's 'war on
drugs,' arrested on December 23. Miss Sinaloa of
2008 was recently crowned Miss Hispanoamerican
in Bolivia, was detained two weeks ago with a group
of armed men suspected of drug trafficking
With the in the
Bilateral Extradition and Judicial Assistance Treaty, the governments of both
countries established legal procedures to accomplish the transfer of the
suspected drug traffickers. The constitutionality of the Treaty was approved by
the Federal Judiciary.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of
Public Security approved their release and transport from federal prison to the
United States via an aircraft belonging to the Attorney General's office, which
reports that the ten suspected criminals have already been put into the custody
of U.S. authorities.
The co-coordinated handover
was carried out at the Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and de Touluca
airports in Mexico.
The Attorney General's office
added that with this judicial action, up to now 192 people have been handed
over for extradition by the present federal administration, 184 of which have
been sent to the United States.
Some of the Charges in
Detail:
-- Fidel Chan Amador, charged with marijuana distribution and importation
conspiracies. He allegedly is responsible for the importation of some 11,500
pounds of cannabis seized in the United States from 1996 to 1999 and about
eight tons of the contraband narcotics destined for U.S. sales but confiscated
by Mexican authorities.
-- Efrain Perez Arciniega, an alleged lieutenant of the Arellano Felix
Organization responsible for handling logistics related to the receipt of large
cocaine and marijuana shipments;
-- Jesus "Chuy" Labra Aviles, a
suspected member of the Arellano Felix gang who was allegedly responsible for
shipping thousands of kilograms of cocaine and marijuana from Mexico to the
United States from 1986 to 2001;
-- Armando Martinez Duarte, a
former member of the Mexican attorney general's office who allegedly served as
security chief for the Arellano Felix Organization, protecting its activities
from interference by Mexican law enforcement agencies and "policing" the
Mexicali area by kidnapping, torturing and murdering the syndicate's enemies; and
-- Jorge Aureliano
Felix, a former Mexican state judicial police officer who allegedly acted as a
top Arellano Felix lieutenant responsible for safeguarding the storage of
illicit drugs and for taking delivery of and keeping account of drug proceeds.
Each of the latter four
suspects is charged with substantive racketeering based on drug and money-laundering
crimes; conspiracy to commit racketeering; and other
drug-trafficking and money-laundering offenses.