KXO RADIO - Extradition put on hold

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Todays is : Saturday, 30 August 2008

Written by George Gale
Friday, 18 July 2008
(It could be awhile before Arellano Felix is extradited from Mexico)…Mexico had agreed to extradite Benjamin Arellano Felix to face charges in California. The reputed head of the Arellano Felix Drug Cartel is facing five charges in California. They include Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering, Racketeering and organized crime. He is serving a 22-year sentence in Mexico. It has been argued that extraditing him would mean he would be tried for the same crimes twice. Prosecutors argue the crimes in the United States occurred after the crimes for which he was convicted in Mexico. A judge in Mexico recently postponed the extradition until a Mexican Court rules on the legality of the extradition order. The Mexican Attorney General’s Office says that could take months or even years. Arellano Felix had been the most powerful drug cartel in Northern Baja California, with major activity in Tijuana and Mexicali. The Cartel was weakened with Benjamin’s arrest in 2002 and the killing of his brother Ramon the same year, in a shoot-out with Mexican police