While U.S. officials expressed gratitude that the Calderón administration extradited four major drug traffickers on Friday night, Mexican lawmakers on Saturday expressed reservations about the decision and plan to grill Cabinet officials during committee hearings this week."I can´t deny the war on drugs is very important," said Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Dep. Gerardo Vargas, "but I am against extradition because I believe these criminals should serve their sentences in Mexico."
The government turned over 11 alleged drug traffickers to the U.S. for prosecution, including Osiel Cárdenas, the accused former head of the Gulf cartel.
The move late Friday night marked the largest-ever Mexican handover of major drug defendants and other alleged criminals to its northern neighbor, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in a statement. "The actions overnight by the Mexican government are unprecedented in their scope and importance," Gonzales said Saturday.
Cárdenas is under indictment in Texas on charges that include threatening to murder three U.S. law enforcement officials. The extradited group also includes accused cartel leaders Ismael and Gilberto Higuera Guerrero and Héctor Palma Salazar.
In addition to the 11 alleged drug traffickers, Mexico also extradited four other people, including Consuelo Carreto Valencia, who is accused of smuggling Mexican women into the United States to engage in prostitution in New York City and elsewhere.
Sen. Leonel Godoy of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) said he plans to interrogate Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora and Public Security Secretary Genaro García when they appear before the Permanent Congressional Commission on Wednesday.
"We just want to know what legal procedures were followed and why the decision was made (to extradite)," Godoy said. "There are sovereignty issues to be considered and we will ask that all these issues be clarified."
PRI Sen. Alejandro Moreno said he expected no problems.
"As long as the law was respected and the autonomy of the Attorney General´s Office was respected, I will applaud the collaboration," he said.
EL UNIVERSAL reported that the Mexican government is considering the extradition of 20 other inmates. Among those on this list are former Quintana Roo Gov. Mario Villanueva Madrid and drug kingpin Miguel Caro Quintero.
