MEXICO SENDS CARTEL MEMBER TO U.S. FOR TRIAL

MEXICO CITY, May 5 -- A high-ranking member of one of Mexico's most violent
drug cartels was extradited to California Friday, part of a new government
policy to hand over more Mexicans wanted in the United States.

Everardo Arturo Paez Martinez, who is accused of distributing cocaine in
Los Angeles and San Diego, has been in a Mexican prison for three years
fighting the extradition; he lost his final court battle this week. He will
now face charges in California related to massive drug distribution and
money laundering.

Paez belongs to the Tijuana Cartel, which is headed by the Arellano Felix
brothers, who are among the most wanted criminals in Mexico and the United
States. Ramon Eduardo Arellano Felix is on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted
fugitive list.

Prior to 1995, Mexico refused to extradite Mexican citizens to the United
States, citing constitutional guarantees. With Washington complaining that
Mexico was harboring international criminals, the Mexican government that
year began selectively allowing a few Mexicans to be extradited to be tried
in the United States.

Shortly after Vicente Fox became president in December, he promised to turn
over more Mexicans accused of crimes in the United States, saying that
better bilateral cooperation was key in the fight against drug trafficking
and other organized crime. In January, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that
extradition did not violate the constitutional guarantees of Mexican
citizens. Paez, known as "El Kitti," is the first accused criminal
extradited under that ruling.

His departure from an airport near the capital Friday was hailed as a
concrete sign of the growing law enforcement cooperation between the two
countries, who share a long, often contentious history in fighting crime.
At the moment, there are 17 more Mexicans in the pipeline to be extradited
- -- more than have ever been sent to the United States.

"It's certainly a change of policy," said Eduardo Ibarrola, Mexico's deputy
attorney general for international affairs. "At the end of the day, what
extradition does is fight impunity."

The U.S. Embassy here issued a statement Friday night applauding Paez's
extradition, calling it "an important advance in our bilateral effort. This
sends a strong signal that drug traffickers, independent of the country
where they are arrested, will be judged in the jurisdiction where they are
accused."

For its part, the United States also has been returning more Mexican
fugitives hiding in the United States.