MEXICO'S HELP

Progress Against The Narco-Traffickers

Mexico's extradition of accused drug trafficker Miguel Angel
Martinez-Martinez for trial in San Diego is very good news. It's the latest
sign of dramatically improving cooperation between Mexico and the United
States on what must be their mutual battle against the powerful
narco-trafficking cartels that menace both countries.

U.S. prosecutors say that Martinez is a principal figure in the Joaquin
"Chapo" Guzman Organization, the Sinaloa-based cartel believed responsible
for smuggling tons of cocaine and other illicit narcotics into the United
States over many years. Martinez, arrested three years ago by Mexican
police, allegedly directed the Sinaloa cartel's drug trafficking operations
in the United States until at least 1995.

Those operations included the surreptitious construction of a 1,452-foot
tunnel from Tijuana to Otay Mesa. The tunnel, intended as a
cocaine-smuggling route, was discovered in 1993 before it could be completed.

Martinez's alleged role as a Sinaloa cartel principal would make him a
major player in one of Mexico's most powerful drug syndicates. If convicted
on the U.S. charges currently pending against him, Martinez could be
sentenced to life in prison.

Beyond the quest for justice in this particular case, Martinez's
extradition marks what now appears to be an established trend in
U.S.-Mexico cooperation on combatting drug trafficking. Martinez is the
third major drug syndicate figure extradited to the United States this
year. Everardo Arturo Paez Martinez, an alleged lieutenant in the
Tijuana-based Arellano Felix Organization, and Francisco Rafael Camarena
Macas were handed over by Mexican authorities in May and June respectively.

Prior to that, Mexico had never extradited a significant narco-trafficking
figure to stand trial in the United States.

But a ruling in January by Mexico's Supreme Court found no constitutional
barriers to Paez's extradition, or that of other Mexican nationals. That
was the legal half of the battle to change Mexico's extradition policy and
practice.

Credit the new, reformist government of President Vicente Fox with winning
the rest of the battle over extradition. Fox is demonstrating the political
will to extradite and the courage to face potential retaliatory violence
from Mexico's drug cartels, including the murderous Arellano Felix
Organization. These are impressive accomplishments for which Fox deserves
immense credit. No previous Mexican government did as much.

Washington and Mexico City both know that reducing the demand for drugs in
the United States is the best long-term strategy. But both capitals also
know that effective law enforcement is vital and that extradition
eliminates Mexico as a de facto sanctuary for the narco-traffickers. Which
is why the third major drug extradition is such welcome news.