El Chapo Key in Mexico's Turnabout on Extraditing Cartel Bosses, Experts Say Jan-Albert Hootsen - Fox News Latino
go to original October 13, 2015

Shovel not included. The most wanted man in Mexico and the United States is now a source of inspiration for a Halloween costume. (Mercado Libre)

Two weeks ago, Mexico's Interior Secretary Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong was adamant. No, the sudden decision to extradite 13 suspects to the United States, including two major drug lords, had nothing to do with last July's escape of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, the world's most wanted man and alleged leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Even though Chapo's spectacular prison break embarrassed the Mexican government and infuriated Washington – which had requested his extradition just weeks before, to no avail – Osorio said his government was simply acting on bilateral agreements.

That may technically be correct, as the process of extraditing kingpins Edgar Váldez Villareal, alias “La Barbie,” Jorge “El Coss” Costilla Sánchez and 11 others began long before El Chapo fled.

But the timing, so soon after the Sinaloan's prison break, and the group being the largest the administration of president Enrique Peña Nieto has extradited since taking office in late 2012, did give the impression Mexico was trying to make up for something.

“You can safely say that choosing this moment to extradite these men is a direct consequence of Chapo's escape,” José Reveles, the author of numerous books on the drug war, told Fox News Latino.

Read the rest at Fox News Latino

Related: El Chapo Located - But World's Most Wanted Drug Lord Slips Through Authorities' Fingers Again (Irish Mirror)

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