EXTRADITING ALLEGED DRUG KINGPIN WOULD BE HISTORIC

Everardo Arturo Paez Martinez, alleged lieutenant in the Arellano Felix
Organization, could well become the first Mexican drug kingpin extradited
by the government of Mexico for trial in the United States.

The administration of former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo supported
the U.S. extradition request for Paez and formally petitioned the Mexican
Supreme Court to approve it. Zedillo's successor, President Vicente Fox,
also is on record favoring extraditing Paez and other accused drug
criminals wanted in the United States. Mexico's Supreme Court approved the
Paez extradition in a 10-1 decision that found no constitutional objections.

All this marks a historic departure on two counts. First, Mexico, despite
signing a U.S.-Mexico extradition treaty in 1978, traditionally resisted
extraditing its citizens to the United States on constitutional grounds
rooted in the country's fierce nationalism. Second, the wealth and
influence of Mexico's powerful and intimidating drug cartels have in the
past been sufficient to preclude extradition for major drug criminals who
are Mexican citizens.

Thus, Paez's extradition would be both precedent shattering and precedent
setting.

"The Paez case is the litmus test for the extradition of Mexican
nationals," says Laura Duffy, the assistant United States attorney here who
is handling the case.

Errol J. Chavez, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration's San Diego
office, similarly describes Paez's extradition as vital. "It would be the
first step taken by Mexico to show its cooperation on extradition, and it
would scare them (the AFO) significantly."

William D. Gore, the FBI's special agent in charge of the bureau's San
Diego office, emphatically agrees.

"(Paez's extradition) would be a gigantic demonstration of their sincere
conviction to make a difference with the drug cartels in Mexico. That would
send a message to them that, I think, would scare the hell out of them,"
Gore says.

"I think in the back of their minds they figure 'no matter what happens, I
can maybe buy my way out of it in Mexico', but they realize that's not the
case up here," Gore adds.

Paez seems an almost perfect test case for what may be a whole new legal
partnership between Mexico and the United States in fighting international
narcotics trafficking.

The official six-count U.S. indictment of Paez, issued by a federal grand
jury in San Diego in 1997, charged Paez with conspiring to smuggle and
distribute more than a ton of cocaine into the United States from 1988
through 1996. U.S. officials say privately that the actual total during
those eight years was about 20 tons of cocaine.

Clearly, Paez would qualify for anyone's definition of a drug kingpin.
Paez's second value as symbol and test case is his alleged rank in the
Arellano Felix Organization.

The profile sketched by federal prosecutors and investigators shows that
"Kitti" Paez was no mere drug mule. The son of a wealthy and privileged
Tijuana family, Paez joined the AFO as one of the so-called "narco juniors"
and rose quickly in the cartel. His dazzling successes in moving cocaine
into the United States plus his intelligence and personal charm elevated
him to a leadership role. When U.S. pressure prompted his arrest in Tijuana
in 1997, Paez was allegedly among the cartel's highest-ranking traffickers.

Then there is the strength of the U.S. Justice Department's abundantly
documented case against Paez. "It's a rock-solid case," notes a DEA
official familiar with its details.

Finally, a cooperating Paez in Justice Department hands could reveal a
treasure trove of information on exactly how the Arellano Felix
Organization conducted its criminal activities. That knowledge could
include the identities of Mexican government and police officials who were
on the cartel's huge bribery payroll, and a wealth of operational details
about the criminal activities of Benjamin and Ramon Arellano Felix. Both
are also under indictments issued by federal grand juries in San Diego.

Whether Paez's lawyers can succeed in raising new legal barriers to his
extradition is uncertain. No doubt they are trying. One possible option
would be citing Paez's potential life sentence in the United States, a
penalty that might be construed as unacceptably harsh under provisions of
the Mexican constitution. Waiving the life sentence option might be one way
to finesse such an objection.

"This is a case where we can't afford to fail," says prosecutor Duffy.

Robert J. Caldwell