Drug Suspect Can’t Be Extradited

In a blow to U.S. efforts to extradite suspected drug kingpins, a Mexican court has denied prosecutors’ request to transport Jesus Amezcua to a San Diego federal district court where he faces drug trafficking charges.

The case has been closely watched by law enforcement officials on both sides of the border since Amezcua’s arrest in Mexico City in June 1998 as he consulted with a Cuban Santeria guru. U.S. justice officials have labeled Amezcua and his two brothers “the meth kings of this hemisphere.”

A Mexican federal tribunal ruled that a U.S. guarantee given to the Mexican government that Amezcua would not face a possible life term if found guilty was insufficient, according to a Mexican law enforcement official who asked not to be identified.

Although the judge’s decision does not necessarily set a precedent, it might impede pending or anticipated requests for extraditions of other alleged drug traffickers wanted in the United States, including Benjamin Arellano Felix and Ismael “El Mayel” Higuera Guerrero, both reportedly of the Tijuana drug cartel.

Although the U.S. has an extradition treaty with Mexico, Mexican citizens cannot be extradited if they face the death penalty or life in prison, according to a Mexican Supreme Court ruling in October.

U.S. prosecutors have tried to circumvent the ban by seeking consecutive prison terms that can add up to life in jail.

Amezcua’s attorney, Americo Delgado, was quoted in the Reforma newspaper here as saying the Mexican court would not accept a “diplomatic note” provided by the U.S. State Department guaranteeing that his client would not receive life in jail if found guilty.

“The issue is that no guarantee given by the executive branch [of the U.S. government, including prosecutors] will necessarily be honored or observed by the judiciary branch,” said a Mexican government official who asked not to be identified.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on the decision, saying the government had not been officially notified of the denial.

Amezcua, 36, has been jailed since his arrest on charges that he ran an extensive methamphetamine manufacturing and distribution ring that had “global dimensions,” according to former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief Thomas A. Constantine in testimony before Congress in 1999.

Amezcua and two brothers, Luis and Adan, allegedly began by selling 1-pound packages of the drug in Southern California, but over time they reportedly created a manufacturing and smuggling ring with operations in Europe as well as the western and southern United States.

Jesus Amezcua was acquitted of Mexican charges shortly after his arrest but remained in jail pending the U.S. extradition request, which was approved by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Relations.

Federal prosecutors seeking Mexican suspects have met with limited success because of the legal barriers.

Mexicans must first face Mexican charges and serve sentences before they can be extradited to the United States.

U.S. law enforcement’s biggest victory to date was the extradition last May of Everardo Arturo “Kitty” Paez, a high-level operative of the Tijuana cartel, to San Diego. He later plea-bargained a 30-year prison sentence.

Last summer, U.S. officials also extradited Miguel Angel Martinez Martinez, an alleged lieutenant of the Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman organization. Martinez is awaiting trial in a San Diego jail.

But U.S. officials say the Mexican ruling denying extradition in death penalty or life imprisonment cases has given extradition targets and their attorneys a new weapon to fight the process.

Rafael Aguirre in The Times’ Mexico City Bureau contributed to this report.