Mexico: No more extradition for drug trafficking or money laundering, trials to be held within the country

On Thursday, Mexico announced its new policy, stating that all the officials charged with corruption would be tried within the country and not in the United States or any other country. The new move would be a historic shift as for decades most of Mexico’s high-profile drug-trafficking and corruption cases have been heard and decided in its northern neighboring country. However, the Mexican government did not give out the details of the new rule, while authorities added that in some cases the extradition to the US could continue.

Mexico’s Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard in his statement said, “Whoever is culpable according to our laws will be tried, judged and if applicable sentenced in Mexico, and not in other countries, and that is the basis which has been encouraged with this agreement... That is what has been discussed, what has been agreed, and what has been maintained with U.S. authorities.”

US officials haven’t yet given any comments pertaining to the new rule or Ebrard’s statement. Many believed that the authorities took the decision following the high-profile corruption and money laundering case against former Mexican defense secretary, Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos. The Mexican government announced its decision after the US justice department dropped the case against the former Mexican official.

Earlier this week, the US Justice Department announced that it would dismiss all the charges against Cienfuegos and return him to Mexico in order to maintain cross-border peace and cooperation between the two counties. Many reports hinted that Mexico threatened to expel the Drug Enforcement Administration’s regional director and agents if Cienfuegos was not sent back.

US Federal police arrested former Mexican defense minister Cienfuegos at Los Angeles International Airport on account of drug trafficking and money laundering in October. Federal prosecutors issued a letter supporting his detention, which read, "The defendant abused that public position to help the H-2 Cartel, an extremely violent Mexican drug trafficking organization, traffic thousands of kilograms of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana into the United States, including New York City.” It added, “In exchange for bribe payments, he permitted the H-2 Cartel -- a cartel that routinely engaged in wholesale violence, including torture and murder -- to operate with impunity in Mexico."

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador denied exerting any pressure on the US government and said, “We didn't threaten anybody. All we did was express our disagreement.”

López Obrador added, “We did not threaten to expel the agents. We said we want to be informed and for the cooperation agreements to be respected, I think it is an injustice for innocent people to be put on trial.”

“You cannot allow foreign agencies to try Mexicans if there is no proof,” said AMLO, who projected it as the issue of his country’s sovereignty. “Just because they are other countries' legal institutions, does that make them the owners of justice and rectitude.”