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Mexico extradites reputed drug lord Arellano Felix

29 April 2011 23:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The reputed leader of one of Mexico’s most violent drug cartels was extradited to the United States on Friday to face drug-trafficking charges, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office announced, APA reports quoting â€œAssociated Pressâ€.
Benjamin Arellano Felix is one of the highest-profile cartel members extradited under the administration of President Felipe Calderon.
Arellano Felix, along with at least three brothers, led the Tijuana cartel from the 1980s until his arrest in central Mexico in 2002. He faced drug-trafficking charges both in Mexico and the U.S., and in 2003, he and his brothers were indicted in San Diego, California, across the border from Tijuana. In 2007, Mexico accepted the U.S. request to extradite him.
Mexican federal agents handed Arellano Felix over to U.S. Marshals at an airport on the outskirts of Mexico City on Friday, the Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has called the Tijuana cartel, which smuggles cocaine and marijuana into the U.S. from northwestern Mexico, one of the largest, most violent criminal organizations in the country. The cartel was featured in the 2001 movie "Traffic." Mexican authorities said Benjamin Arellano Felix was the brains behind the operation.
The cartel has been weakened by the rival Sinaloa drug gang in recent years, however.