Mexico: Drug Gang Suspect Extradited to the U.S.

By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD

A 20-year investigation into one of Mexico’s largest drug trafficking organizations came to a close Friday with the extradition of Eduardo Arellano-Félix, a top operative of the gang, to San Diego. After exhausting his legal appeals in Mexico, he will face a variety of charges, including racketeering and money laundering, in a United States court. The Mexican government sent Mr. Arellano-Félix, a capo in the Arellano-Félix organization led by his family members, to the United States more than four years after his arrest following a shootout with Mexican police. His brothers are already serving long sentences in the United States, and the Drug Enforcement Administration contends that the gang has largely been crippled, though several others have taken its place as top suppliers of cocaine and marijuana to the United States. Still, Lanny A. Breuer, a Justice Department official, called the extradition “a milestone in our fight against the Mexican drug cartels.”