sanquintinsince73
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Her Domain Includes Baja
MEXICO CITY – A Mexican judge Friday acquitted a reputed drug cartel "queen" of organized crime and other charges, the latest setback for a judicial
system that has failed to convict the majority of suspects captured for drug crimes.
Judge Fernando Cordova del Valle ruled that prosecutors failed to bring enough evidence against Sandra Avila Beltran, described by U.S. and Mexican
officials as a major decision-maker for the Sinaloa gang, Mexico's most powerful cartel. The "Queen of the Pacific" had been charged with organized
crime, conspiracy to traffic drugs and money laundering.
Avila Beltran, who was arrested in September 2007 by more than 30 federal agents as she sipped coffee in a Mexico City diner, has faced a U.S.
extradition request since November 2007.
The request relates to the 2001 seizure of more than 9 tons of U.S.-bound cocaine aboard a fishing vessel in the port of Manzanillo, along Mexico's
west coast.
It was unclear if Avila, who remains in a Mexico City prison, still faces lesser charges or if the ruling Friday would affect the extradition process.
The Attorney General's Office said it could not immediately comment.
Her boyfriend, Colombian Juan Diego Espinoza Ramirez, was also absolved in the same ruling. However, Espinoza was extradited to Florida in December
2008 on charges related to the cocaine shipment. Mexican law allows suspects to be extradited to the U.S. even while they are facing trial in the
Mexico.
At the time of her arrest, prosecutors said Avila spent more than a decade working her way to the top of Mexico's drug trade, seducing several
notorious kingpins and uniting Colombian and Mexican gangs.
Avila comes from a family of powerful drug lords: She is the niece of Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, "the godfather" of Mexican drug smuggling, who is
serving a 40-year sentence in Mexico for drug smuggling and the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena in Mexico's western Jalisco state. Another uncle,
Juan Jose Quintero Payan, was extradited to the U.S. on drug-trafficking charges.
Prosecutors had said it was Avila's romance with Espinoza that brought together the Sinaloa gang and Colombia's Norte del Valle cartel.
But Avila had largely gone unnoticed until police found the cocaine shipment in Manzanillo in 2001 and tracked it to Espinoza Ramirez. A few months
later, her teenage son was kidnapped in the northern city of Guadalajara and she contacted authorities for help. The size of the ransom demanded,
which police said was $5 million, raised suspicion.
Officers began tracking Avila closely in Mexico City, where she dined a pricey Thai restaurant and had her hair colored jet black and hands manicured
in ritzy beauty shops frequented by TV stars.
The story of her arrest enthralled Mexicans, inspiring a "narcocorrido" folk ballad by Los Tucanes de Tijuana that pays homage to her as "a top lady
who is a key part of the business."
The brief statement on her acquittal offered few details on the case against her, saying only that prosecutors failed to prove the "time, place,
methods" of her alleged crimes.
Avila has proclaimed her innocence from prison, saying she made her money selling clothes and renting houses.
Most trials in Mexico are conducted in writing, offering little insight into the process. That is something the country is changing through a sweeping
U.S.-backed reform that will institute oral trials and transform Mexico's inquisitorial judicial system into an accusatorial one.
The Mexican government frequently touts arrests of drug gang suspects, often parading the most-wanted ones before the cameras. But records obtained by
The Associated Press show that three-quarters of those arrested for drug crimes during the administration of President Felipe Calderon have been let
go.
The U.S. lamented Mexico's dysfunctional judicial system in a Jan. 29 diplomatic cable released Thursday by the Wikileaks website, noting:
"Prosecution rates for organized crime-related offenses are dismal; 2 percent of those detained are brought to trial."
Among those are 11 mayors who were arrested in a dramatic 2009 sweep against more than 30 officials accused of protecting the La Familia cartel in
western Michoacan state. One by one, the officials have been released for lack of evidence and only one, a mayor, remains in prison.
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Bajahowodd
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And, your proof?
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sanquintinsince73
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajahowodd
And, your proof? |
Proof of what?
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Bajahowodd
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Duh! Look at the title of your post. Just like to know where you conclude that "her domain includes Baja". That's all.
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sanquintinsince73
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I lived in Baja for 6 years in Lomas Hipodromo which is a high end area behind the Caliente racetrack. Many of my neighbors were "narcos" who knew
her. She was a client at a estetica on Boulevard Las Americas.
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sanquintinsince73
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Duh! Look at the title of your post. Just like to know where you conclude that "her domain includes Baja". That's all. |
Matter of fact:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWvbagSr6BQ
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mcfez
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| Quote: | Originally posted by sanquintinsince73
| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Duh! Look at the title of your post. Just like to know where you conclude that "her domain includes Baja". That's all. |
Matter of fact:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWvbagSr6BQ |
sanquintinsince73...sorry fellow..I cant speak Spanish at all. What was she saying in the video? Txs
Old people are like the old cars, made of some tough stuff. May show a little rust, but good as gold on the inside.
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tripledigitken
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I have seen many pickups and SUV's with Sinaloa tags in and around TJ and the border over the last year. Doubt their all tourists visiting TJ!
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/28/131647387/drug-tunnel-discover...
[Edited on 12-4-2010 by tripledigitken]
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Woooosh
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The crime numbers are pulled from some of the Wiki Cables. If you have half and hour to kill, they are a fascinating read. As this articles says-
the existing judicial system is ineffective, which is why Calderon almost called for martial law in some areas of Mexico (including TJ)- because the
police don't work together and evidence collected by the Military can be used in the military courts. Lots of cable-talk about Mexican Martial law.
With the current 2% rate of prosecutions, anything would be better.
All this time Mexico was actively blaming the north-of-border media for distorting crime while the state dept cables say three areas of Mexico
(including Tijuana) were so out of control that martial law (and the restriction of some constitutional rights) was considered by Calderon to gain
control from the narcos to make the Mexican people feel confident and "less impotent". Talk about treating us like mushrooms...
[Edited on 12-4-2010 by Woooosh]
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
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sanquintinsince73
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| Quote: | Originally posted by mcfez
| Quote: | Originally posted by sanquintinsince73
| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Duh! Look at the title of your post. Just like to know where you conclude that "her domain includes Baja". That's all. |
Matter of fact:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWvbagSr6BQ |
sanquintinsince73...sorry fellow..I cant speak Spanish at all. What was she saying in the video? Txs |
At the time of her arrest she was being interviewed and was being asked where she is from and she responds: Tijuana. Asked what she does for a living
and she responds: I sell clothes. She also gave her address. I cannot believe she was let go.
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mcfez
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| Quote: | Originally posted by sanquintinsince73
| Quote: | Originally posted by mcfez
| Quote: | Originally posted by sanquintinsince73
| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Duh! Look at the title of your post. Just like to know where you conclude that "her domain includes Baja". That's all. |
Matter of fact:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWvbagSr6BQ |
sanquintinsince73...sorry fellow..I cant speak Spanish at all. What was she saying in the video? Txs |
At the time of her arrest she was being interviewed and was being asked where she is from and she responds: Tijuana. Asked what she does for a living
and she responds: I sell clothes. She also gave her address. I cannot believe she was let go. |
Wow. Thanks for the translate my friend.
Old people are like the old cars, made of some tough stuff. May show a little rust, but good as gold on the inside.
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Bajahowodd
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Yeah. Thanks for the follow up info. I only raised the issue since neither the article you posted, nor another one I read mentioned any location other
than the mainland.
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durrelllrobert
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| Quote: | Originally posted by sanquintinsince73
She was a client at a estetica on Boulevard Las Americas. |
OK, she was a tourist 
Bob Durrell
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