Man With Child Porn Charge Extradited

U.S. authorities extradited a Mexican businessman with alleged ties to associates of a powerful state governor to his homeland late Saturday, where he faces charges of child pornography, statutory rape and corruption of minors.

Jean Succar Kuri arrived in Mexico City late Saturday night aboard a commercial flight from Phoenix, Arizona. Dressed in all gray and visibly tired, he was immediately taken into custody by agents of Mexico's Federal Agency of Investigation.

Succar Kuri is a legal U.S. resident who Mexican prosecutors say lured poor girls in the Caribbean resort of Cancun to his home so that he and his friends could have sex with them. The target of an investigation in Mexico in 2003, Succar Kuri fled to the United States but was arrested during a traffic stop in Arizona in February 2004.

As he fought extradition back to this country, his case gained notoriety across Mexico following the arrest of Lydia Cacho, a journalist who wrote a book about pedophilia in Cancun. Titled "The Demons of Eden," the book linked Succar Kuri to a prominent businessman in the central state of Puebla.

In December, police in Puebla traveled to Cancun, arrested Cacho and drove her 20 hours back to their state to charge her with libel and slander against the Puebla businessman.

Cacho was subsequently released on bail, but has yet to be cleared of wrongdoing.

Human rights groups said top officials in Puebla conspired to unfairly target Cacho and the case became a national sensation in February, with the release of audio tapes apparently featuring Puebla Gov. Mario Marin and the Puebla businessman plotting to jail Cacho.

Cacho has since accused Marin and other top state officials of abuse of power, attempted rape, influence peddling and violating her human rights and Mexico's Supreme Court agreed in April to investigate an alleged revenge plot by Marin and the businessman.

The matter was fast-tracked to the Supreme Court, bypassing lower tribunals by a special act of Congress after the tapes surfaced in February.

Lawmakers claimed Cacho's rights had been violated and worried that Marin would unfairly influence judges, prosecutors and police in his home state, making it difficult to investigate her accusations.

There have been calls to remove Marin from office, but the only authority with the power to do so is Puebla's legislature - which is dominated by allies from the governor's Institutional Revolutionary Party.
By EDUARDO VERDUGO