U.S. ASKS MEXICO TO EXTRADITE ALLEGED DRUG LORD

The U.S. government has asked Mexico to extradite alleged
Gulf drug cartel leader Oscar Malherbe de Leon, who was
captured last month, the Justice Department said Thursday.

Department spokesman John Russell confirmed the
extradition request had been formally made.

Malherbe was arrested Feb. 26 in Mexico City. He is
alleged to have been a top lieutenant in the Gulf cartel,
who replaced Juan Garcia Abrego as its leader when the drug
lord was captured in the city of Monterrey in January 1996.
Russell also said the United States has asked Mexico for
the provisional arrest of 60 other accused drug
traffickers, both Mexican and U.S. citizens in Mexico, as a
first step in their eventual extradition.

In Mexico City, officials at Mexico's Foreign Ministry
and the U.S. Embassy were unavailable for comment.

The United States has made it clear that it considers
the Malherbe extradition case a test of Mexico's
willingness to cooperate in the drug war. The case arose
as the Clinton administration sought Congress to support
its recent decision to "certify" Mexico as a reliable
antidrug ally.

Mexico has traditionally refused to extradite its
citizens to other countries to stand trial for crimes,
preferring instead to try them there.

Asked at her weekly news briefing if a list was
available of those people the United States wants
extradited from Mexico, Attorney General Janet Reno
replied, "We just work with the government of Mexico trying
to provide appropriate information."