MEXICAN EXTRADITION POLICIES ANGER U.S.

Members of Congress yesterday threatened sanctions against Mexico for
failing to extradite scores of criminals wanted in the United States on drug
trafficking and murder charges.

The congressional anger was unleashed by an emotional hearing on the 1997
murder of Sheila Bellush, a 35-year-old Sarasota, Fla., woman who was shot
in the face and slashed across the throat in front of her 2-year-old
quadruplets. The alleged killer, Jose Del Toro Jr., was arrested in Mexico a
few days later and is waging a legal battle against extradition.

"Why isn't Del Toro sitting on death row in Florida? Why has my family been
subject to continued anguish and denied justice?" demanded the victim's
husband, James J. Bellush, as video monitors showed pictures of his wife's
mutilated body. "Because Mr. Del Toro, who is an American citizen, who
murdered another American citizen on American soil, crossed the border into
Mexico. Mexico has decided to interfere with the American justice system and
allowed Del Toro to appeal his extradition all the way to the Mexican
supreme court."

Extraditions have long been a bone of contention in U.S.-Mexican relations.
U.S. officials said 275 extradition requests are pending with Mexico, which
has approved only 42 since 1996. Of those, 20 were on drug charges, only one
was a Mexican citizen, and none have been Mexican drug kingpins.

"The hearing was to see if Mexico is a safe haven for drug traffickers and
criminals," said Rep. John L. Mica, (R-Fla.), who chaired the session before
a subcommittee of the Government Reform Committee. "Unfortunately today the
question has to be answered in the affirmative."

Visibly moved by Bellush's testimony, Mica and other members of the
subcommittee on criminal justice, drug policy and human resources said they
would pursue every avenue available to pressure Mexico to hand over Del
Toro. Among the possible measures, they said, are using U.S. influence to
block loans for Mexico by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Mexican officials said they could not simply deport Del Toro because he

process the extradition request, even if it takes longer than they would like.

"And as soon as a country puts out an arrest warrant, you can't deport the
person, you have to arrest them," said a Mexican official.

Mary Lee Warren, a deputy assistant attorney general, said she asked the
Mexicans to investigate who was paying Del Toro's legal bills because he had
few known financial resources.

Neither Mexican nor U.S. officials were able to provide the names of Del
Toro's attorneys yesterday. He has not yet had to enter a plea in court.

After a heated exchange with Warren and other administration officials, Mica
said another hearing would be called for August and warned that if
necessary, subpoenas could be issued to Attorney General Janet Reno and
Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright to explain why more pressure is not
being applied to Mexico to resolve the Del Toro case.

"This is a very important test, because if we can't [extradite] under these
conditions, when will we be able to do it?" asked Rep. Elijah E. Cummings
(D-Md).