MEXICAN POLICE CAPTURE THE 'QUEEN' OF DRUG TRAFFICKING

Mexican police have captured the country's highest profile female drug
trafficker - the notoriously nicknamed Queen of the Pacific - along
with her Colombian drug boss boyfriend, aka The Tiger.

Sandra Avila Beltran was arrested on Friday driving her BMW sports
utility vehicle in a wealthy part of Mexico City. Juan Diego Espinosa
was picked up in the same area a few hours later.

The couple are allegedly important figures in the organisation of
shipments of Colombian cocaine to Mexico heading for the US. Both are
also wanted on drugs charges in the United States.

Beltran is said to be close to Ismael 'el Mayo' Zambada, one of the
top drug barons within the Sinaloa trafficking organisation that is
headed by the legendary Joaquin 'el Chapo' Guzman. Her regal nickname
comes from her reputed role in developing smuggling roots up the
Pacific coast.

Espinosa, 39, is allegedly an important figure within the Colombian
Norte del Valle cartel. That group's leader, Diego Montoya, was
arrested three weeks ago in an operation hailed as the biggest blow to
Colombian drug traffickers since the fall of the infamous Pablo
Escobar in 1993.

Mexican authorities said the investigations that finally led them to
Beltran began five years ago after the seizure of nine tons of
Colombian cocaine in a tuna fishing boat off the Pacific port and
resort of Manzanillo. 'This woman has been transporting Colombian
cocaine into Mexico since the Nineties. She is part of a family that
has been dedicated to drug trafficking for three generations,' public
safety under-secretary Patricio Patino said.

A video released to the local media by the police show the alleged
Queen of the Pacific claiming to be a housewife who earns extra money
selling clothes and renting houses. Beltran speaks with hesitation
throughout, until asked why she is in police custody. 'Because of an
arrest warrant with a view to my extradition,' she replies quickly
with a smile.