Mexico extradites top capos, others from max. security jail
MEXICO CITY - Mexico on Wednesday extradited 13 people to the United States associated with drug trafficking, including two top drug lords and a man accused in the killing of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Mexico in 2011.
Among those sent to the U.S. were Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as "La Barbie," a top lieutenant to the late Arturo Beltran Leyva who later led his own faction of the Beltran Leyva cartel, and Jorge Costilla Sanchez, known as "El Coss," an alleged former leader of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, federal prosecutor Tomas Zeron said.
He said the extradited group also included Jose Emanuel Garcia Sota, who is charged in the 2011 killing of ICE agent Jaime Zapata in San Luis Potosi.
Valdez and Costilla were housed at Mexico's maximum security facility, Altiplano, the scene of a dramatic escape in July by the world's most powerful drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Mexican officials would not comment on the timing of the extraditions or say whether it was a response to security concerns after the Guzman escape.
The United States filed an extradition request for Guzman about 2½ weeks before his July 11 escape. His lawyer told several media outlets in August that Guzman's escape was spurred by his learning that extradition had become imminent.
The top two capos extradited Wednesday had been in custody at least several years before the extradition requests were honored.
Valdez, who was arrested in 2010, faces drug trafficking charges in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia. The U.S.-born former Texas high school football player and petty street dealer allegedly rose to become one of Mexico's most savage cartel assassins. He was nicknamed "the Barbie" for his fair complexion and green eyes.
Costilla, who was arrested in 2012, was charged in 2002 in the Southern District of Texas with cocaine and marijuana importation and distribution, money laundering, and threatening federal law enforcement officers with assault, kidnapping or murder, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
The Justice Department said in a statement that the extraditions were the result of a June meeting between U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and her Mexican counterpart, Arely Gomez.
"Today's extraditions would not have been possible without the close collaboration and productive relationship the Department of Justice enjoys with officials at the highest levels of law enforcement in Mexico," Lynch said in the statement.