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Reuters
Federal police officers escort Sandra Avila after her arrival at the airport in Toluca, in this photograph released by the Attorney General's office on Aug. 9, 2012.
Mexico have handed "Queen of the Pacific" Sandra Avila, Mexico's highest-profile female drug smuggler," over to United States authorities to face trafficking charges north of the border.
Avila, arrested in Mexico in 2007, allegedly helped build up the Sinaloa cartel in the 1990s with the gang's leader Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman. She won her nickname for pioneering smuggling routes up Mexico's Pacific Coast into California.
The Mexican federal attorney-general's office said she would face cocaine possession and distribution charges in Florida.
Avila, who was given into the custody of U.S. officials in Toluca, was nabbed on organized crime and money-laundering charges in Mexico and had fought extradition by claiming she would be tried for the same crimes twice.
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Previously, prosecutors in Mexico had tried unsuccessfully to bring drug smuggling charges against her, the BBC reported.
Avila is the niece of Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, known as the godfather of the Mexican drug trade.
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According to the BBC, the director of the prison where she was being held was fired in 2011 because a doctor had been allowed in Avila's cell to give her Botox injections.
The country's drug war has claimed more than 55,000 lives since President Felipe Calderon sent the army out to battle drug gangs in late 2006.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Friday the 10th replaces Friday the 13th when it comes to Mexican drug lords and traffickers. Avila is a city in Spain - Spanish police arrested the world's biggest crime syndicate trying to start-up the European operations from Madrid. Mexican SINALOA drug cartel syndicate. High echelon members (4 arrested) included Joaquin 'El Chipo' Guzman and his cousin Jesus Gutierrez Guzman- both wanted by US for drug trafficking and money laundering. (These 2 Guzmans are the most sought after criminals)
Avila's romance with Colombian Juan Diego Espinoza Ramirez brought together Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel with Colombia's Norte del Valle, prosecutors said. Espinoza was extradited to Florida in December 2008, two years before he was found not guilty on charges in Mexico related to the cocaine shipment.
*
The Sinaloa Drug Cartel acquired weapons through Operation Fast and Furious -
under the Obama Administration.
Correction - The Fast and Furious "program" was started during the Bush Administration and was shut down as soon as Attorney General Eric Holder heard about it. In fact, very few (or no) weapons were actually transferred to the Mexican cartel.
While the Republicans would really like you to believe their lies, please don't do their spreading for them. The whole mess has been created by the Republican members of the House to discredit the man that can stop their efforts to suppress the vote for Blacks, immigrants, seniors, students and the disabled who would vote Democratic.
Please read the reports from the actual agents in the program and ask yourself "Since this program was started in the Bush Administration, why hasn't the Republican led committee ever brought the people that started the program in to testify? Why are they investigating the Attorney General that shut the program down? Why do they argue the over 7,000 pages of information isn't enough and why are they demanding documents that the Attorney General cannot reveal by law?"
Before making unwarranted and false accusations, study your subject.
And maybe you should do yours. Under the Bush Administration the operation was under a different name and worked WITH the Mexican Government. Under obama it was called Fast and Furious and to say that no or very few weapons were transferred is just absolutely turning a blind eye and playing the blame game. Way to go....good job.
for what it's worth....
THIS GIRL IS FINE ! ! !
The photo in this article does not do here "justice"
If you are allergic to stupid people, how do you treat your allergy to you?
The person is a drug smuggler and there is nothing fine about that. There is no beauty in a human being that makes their living inducing others to destroy their health, lives, families and country with drugs.
Ye Gods, what an assinine post!!!!
There is no greater gang of thieves on the planet than Goldman Sachs! We have time and money along with the will to prosecute Cubans, Mexicans and others. So, why is it we can't prosecute our own low life criminal swine? Instead we give them positions in the in the government Administration. Obama and all prostitute politicians will eventually pay a dear price for giving big banking a license to steal.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and others have been getting billions in 0% loans. They have used that money to drive up the price of oil and other essentials. Everyone in power knows this and nothing is done to stop them.
If we had a government that was not owned all guaranteed loans would be made directly for a small interest. This would cut house notes by half or more and leave trillions in the hands of our people instead of thieving banks. Why should anyone pay a bank 600k for a 200k house when the tax payer backs the loan? Also, why is the capital gains tax, where most giant money is made or stolen a shameful low of 15%, while the middle class are taxed to death?
We will take control of our corrupt financial and corporate system or the pigs and their government will soon have us in depression and chaos. We could force our public owned corporations to pay our minimum wages wherever they go. This would show a little regard for workers and bring back many jobs fast; Instead we give special treaties and tax breaks to help them outsource for slave labor.
We need real change and we will not get it from these to parties. We want to police the world. But we allow the insanely evil and greedy to destroy our own country.
Wow, another Mexican, and now the U.S. will amnesty a whole lot of them, I wonder how many will actually be good for the nation? Another mouth to feed in prison, with immigration soooo broken because they pick and choose which law to apply or rather which laws not to apply. No worry, she will get out and be on paroled. She will have her visa to stay in the U.S. She'll get paroled in for snitching. What a country, actually what a hopeless country, going to Third World mode soon coming to a theater near you.
H M--
What an ignorant comment. You know, not every Mexican is a drug smuggler... She is, and there are a lot of drug smugglers... But that's why they need to be thrown in jail, not the hard working people that come here to work...
MFOregon,
By all means finish your sentence "not hard working people that come here to work....." let me finish it for you and not pay taxes, be paid under the table, go on government welfare they didn't earn or pay in to, sending their kids to our schools on our dime. Speaking of ignorant comments. Not every Mexican is a drug smuggler, but all that come here illegally are criminals.
You think anglo america has a problem with illegal immigrants? Just think of the problems it gave to native americans!
They should have had tighter controls over their borders I guess.
United States of Insanity--
"but all that come here illegally are criminals..." Oh really? Why don't you try telling that to my father, who is a hard working man who came here as a poor farmer... My father is now a dual U.S. and Mexican Citizen. Before coming to the States he spent one year in the biggest city in the world back in 1973 working construction. Mexico City in 1973 had 12 million people and today its 22 million and still growing. By no means whatsoever are my family members criminals because they came here illegally. They are U.S. Citizens.
MFOregon - They are now. However, you are wrong stating that it was not a criminal act by coming to the United States illegally.
Personally, I wish we would make the penalty stiffer. I'm thinking perhaps if we cut a leg off for each intrusion into the United States by an illegal, deport them, the odds of them pulling that stunt again are slim. If we have to take 3 legs, we kill them. Sorry, I have a reputation for wishing to uphold the constitution and what it stands for.
Just add another million to the DEAs buget to try and house her, what is wrong with a mexica firing squad . And I guess her arrest will strike fear into future mexican drug cartel members A big NOT
Oh wow; now no one will be there to order the minions to kill with the weapons we gave them. NOT!
Those that do drug trafficking, we should fill a needle with killing drugs and just give it to those dealers. Then we don't have to worry about paying their jail costs, etc. Give them a dose of their own medicine.
What should we do with our thieves in corporations,wall street and banking? These pigs are destroying America and the government helps them in every possible way.
Gosh, we can never legalize drugs. Then all the additional needed policemen and dedicated enforcement agencies with associated bureaucracies, undercover agents, soldiers, prisons with associated staffing, constructors of prisons, not to mention high and low level criminals would have to find something else to do. But more importantly the US pharmaceutical companies would probably have to charge lower prices for thier equally dangerous concoctions.
that would be great, too stoned to notice how f'd up the country is. who cares if they have a job or a home just keep the drugs coming. There is a reason the Chinese government would prefer to keep their population high.Lot easier to control the masses. Psst, don't tell Obama
people love a war of any kind right or wrong.
Are they sure it's her and not someone else? Remember the last person they paraded around as the son of the most wanted drug leader and it turned out to be car dealership owner. The guns, money, and drugs that they showed to the media were from other busts. How embarrassing was that when the story broke? I don't believe a word they say when they claim to have captured this guy or that guy. It's all about perception and they need the public to believe they're winning.....They aren't it's pretty apparent
This is meaningless. Someone has already taken her place.
As long as drug addicts need their "recreational drugs" to handle life, sociopath entrepreneurs like Sandra Avila will live on.
How stupid is the government? without drug addicts the drug cartels and dealers will go out of business.
how stupid are you? if our government wanted to stop the influx of drugs into this country they certainly could. As long as drugs continue to generate revenue and keep people complacent and aloof they will exist.
The Mexican government lets these "cartel leaders" ride high,wide,and handsome for awhile then arrests them and throws their ass over the fence for the USA to incarcerate for 40 year or so and someone else takes over.
Are we beginning to see a pattern here?
She is a classic "2 at 10:00,and 10 at 2:00"
Look for Eric Holder to stop any prosecution of this suspect. He doesn't want to do any thing to upset the Latino voters. Holder is the king of selective prosecution and suffers from memory loss when pressed about his shady dealings.
Do any of you remember Barry seal?
Why is the United States taxpayers paying for the trial and handling of this corrupted person, Can Mexico not help with the problems, she is infact a mexican citizens. We can try and execute her for her wrongful deeds and the killing of our border patrolmen, but mexico and all the illegals and bleeding hearts in this countrywill come back on us and tell us this would be an unconstitutional act. So let mexico spend their money to convict her and give her the firing squad. In mexico this would not be unconstitutional by their standards.
Normally I like to read people's comments and just laugh about them, and I usually do not like to comment on MSNBC's article but your stupid post made me want to reply. Do you know what extradition is eaglette? I recommend a bit of google search. If you do a crime that affects another country they will want to prosecute you. "The Mexican federal attorney-general's office said she would face cocaine possession and distribution charges in Florida." Did you happen to read that part? did you not that Florida is a state in the United States of America? or will you need to google that too?
Obama will let her out, then give her a permit to work here.
I say just shoot her and that will guarantee she will not do it again and plus it's just the cost of a bullet.