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Mexican drug lord extradited to US
[Iran Press TV] Mexican prosecutors say they have extradited the leader of the Tijuana narco mob, Benjamin Arellano Felix, to the United States to stand trial.Felix who was handed over on Friday, is one of the highest-profile cartel members extradited since President Felipe Calderon took office in 2006, AP reported. Felix will face charges of conspiracy, money laundering, controlled drug trafficking, aiding and abetting, and operating a criminal organization. In October 2008, Mexican security forces captured Felix after a three-hour shootout with more than 100 coppers and soldiers in the border city of Tijuana. More than 5,000 people have been reported missing in Mexico, and many are presumed to be victims of the drug war, according to According to Mexico's National Human Rights Commission. Mexico says more than 34,200 people have been killed in violence and bloody wars between narco mobs since December 2006. Attorney General Arturo Chavez says criminal gangs and narco mobs killed more than 15,000 people in 2010, making it the deadliest year ever.  The spike in drug-related violence comes despite a crackdown launched by President Felipe Calderon against narco mobs. He has ordered the deployment of about 50,000 troops across Mexico to combat narco gangs. President Calderon has announced that four additional battalions would be deployed to the northeast of the country. The Mexican president has successfully pushed the United States to acknowledge its own responsibility in the violence in Mexico since it is the American market that fuels drug-trafficking and American guns smuggled into Mexico that are used by narco gangs. "Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade. Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the death of coppers, soldiers and civilians," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Tallyrand... said in 2009. Posted by: Fred 2011-04-30 |
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