Extradition from Mexico to the United States : Sandra Avila Beltran

Sandra Avila Beltran, the alleged drug cartel leader dubbed "The Queen of the Pacific" has become an extradition target of U.S. law enforcement officials.^[1] Mexico's attorney general's office said the United States wants Sandra Avila Beltran on drug and organized crime charges, but did not say whether she would be sent north before facing charges pending against her in Mexico.^[2] Her Colombian boyfriend, reputed drug lord Juan Diego Espinoza Ramirez, was also arrested in relation to a U.S. extradition request.^[3]

Beltran, according to U.S. sources, was arrested in late September in an upscale Mexico City neighborhood after allegedly arranging cocaine shipments for the Sinaloa cartel.^[4] Beltran is also though to have handled millions of dollars (euros) in payments for the cartel, as well as commanded a team of enforcers to punish gang members and rivals.^[5]

"She was making decisions, serious decisions, setting up shipments, approving payoffs for the shipments, transfers of millions of dollars to Colombian suppliers," said the unnamed U.S. official on condition of anonymity.^[6]

Beltran apparently cultivated an appearance of refined manners and elegant style, and claims she made her money selling clothes and renting houses.^[7] The U.S. alleges that Beltran, whose uncle is reportedly a legendary cartel leader, was in fact a key decision-maker for the Sinaloa cartel.^[8] Part of her duties allegedly encompassed holding gang members and rivals accountable for lost loads of trafficked narcotics.^[9]

After the seizure of more than nine tons of cocaine aboard a fishing vessel in 2001 near the Mexican Pacific coast port of Manzanillo reportedly headed for the American market, U.S. law enforcement officials decided to target Beltran for arrest and extradition.^[10]

Extradition from Mexico to the United States

Extradition from Mexico to the United States is governed by the 1980 extradition treaty.^[11] This often-utilized treaty is of the hybrid variety; it contains both a laundry list of extraditable offenses and a dual criminality standard.^[12]

Under Article 2, extraditable offenses under the treaty must be both:

• listed under the Appendix (the “laundry-list”), and;
• punishable in accordance with the laws of both Contracting Parties by deprivation of liberty the maximum of which shall not be less than one year. (“dual criminality”)^[13]

Article 8 of the treaty allows Mexico to bars extradition of individuals facing potential capital punishment, which it does.^[14] As we reported earlier, extradition of suspects facing punishment by life imprisonment was also barred by Mexico until 2005, when the Mexican Supreme Court ruled in a 6-5 holding to strike down a constitutional ban of life imprisonment.^[15] As a result, life imprisonment is no longer an obstacle to extradition from Mexico.^[16]

In addition, the 2001 Protocol Treaty between the United States and Mexico allows for a "temporary extradition" of suspects convicted in Mexico to be tried by the United States before serving any sentence in Mexico.^[17]

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^[1]Mark Stevenson, U.S. Seeks Alleged Drug Leader in Mexico, Associated Press Newswire, November 30, 2007, available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services.
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] Id.
^[9] Id.
^[10] Id.
^[11] Treaty of Extradition between the United States of America and the United Mexican States (Mexico), U.S.-Mex., Jan. 25, 1980, 1978 U.S.T. LEXIS 317.
^[12] Id. at Art. 2.
^[13] Id.
^[14] Id. at Art. 8.
^[15] BBC Staff, Mexico alters extradition rules, BBC News Online, Nov. 30, 2005, (last visited December 20, 2007).
^[16] Id.
^[17] Protocol to Extradition Treaty with Mexico, U.S.-Mex., May. 21, 2001, 1997 U.S.T. LEXIS 106.