CASE FILES OF DRUG-CARTEL SUSPECTS EXTRADITED FROM MEXICO KEPT SECRET
FROM PUBLIC

The extradition of two high-profile criminal suspects from Mexico has
thrown them and federal authorities in a world of secrecy that may
remain hidden from the public forever.

The West Texas prison where two drug-cartel suspects are being
detained remains a secret Monday and federal authorities have sealed
their court hearing dates and case files.

And because of security concerns, the whereabouts of Jose Rodolfo
Escajeda and Jesus Ernesto Chavez Castillo will probably never be
released, officials said.

Escajeda, known as "El Rikin," was extradited from Mexico into the
U.S. by the Drug Enforcement Administration on Saturday. Chavez
Castillo, known as "El Camello," was brought from Mexico by the FBI in
September.

Both men are considered high-level drug-cartel leaders. Both were
arrested in Mexico, but were turned over to U.S. officials for
prosecution. Both have been indicted in the U.S. on marijuana and
cocaine possession and transportation charges.

Escajeda is allegedly one of the main leaders of the Juarez drug
cartel and is known for using intimidation to control smuggling routes
in the Valley of Juarez.

He is suspected in the slayings of 18 people at a drug rehabilitation
center in Juarez and suspected in the slayings of ant-crime activists
Benjamin Le Baron and his brother-in-law Luis Carlos Whitman last year
in Galeana, Chihuahua. He also is suspected in a standoff between
Hudspeth County de puties and armed men dressed as Mexican soldiers in
2006.

He was indicted by a federal grand jury in El Paso in
2009.

Chavez Castillo was extradited in September and was arraigned during a
closed and highly secure hearing in San Antonio in September. He is
suspected of ordering the slayings of a U.S. consulate worker Lesley
Enriquez Redelfs, her husband, Arthur Redelfs, both of El Paso, and
the husband of another consulate worker earlier this year.

Chavez's court docket does not appear in a federal courthouse
database, which is open to the public. Escajeda's case has not been
updated in a year.

Several federal officials contacted Monday said they could not talk
about the case because everything is sealed.

Al Patino, a retired supervisory deputy U.S. marshal, did not have any
specifics about these cases and the whereabouts of the two men. But he
said the lack of information is tied to the need for security. Patino
retired from the marshals service last year.

The U.S. Marshals Service office is in charge of detaining and
securing all federal suspects until they are sentenced.

"I'm not going to speak directly as to what additional security
measures may be taken or have been taken in the past," Patino said.
"But I will say that additional security measures are taken."

Along with keeping the men safe, the U.S. also has an obligation to
ensure the men get a fair trial and that their constitutional rights
are not violated, said Maureen Franco, the deputy federal public
defender for the U.S. Western District of Texas. "They will get
court-appointed counsel even if their cases are sealed," she said.

She said anyone, regardless of how they get into the court system, has
to have their constitutional rights protected.

The Extradition Treaty between the U.S. and Mexico was signed on May
4, 1978 and became law on Jan. 25, 1980.