Mexico Trucker Online

Amid fierce U.S. government protests over the release of a suspect in the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Mexico yesterday pledged close cooperation with U.S. authorities. But Mexican officials said they have yet to receive a request for his extradition or arrest.

Jesús Navarro Montes, who is suspected of drug smuggling, is accused by U.S. authorities of driving a sport utility vehicle over agent Luis Aguilar in January near the U.S.-Mexico border west of Yuma. Navarro was released from a Mexicali prison earlier this month after Judge Laura Serrano Alderete, of the Baja California 12th District, cleared him of an unrelated migrant-smuggling charge.

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MEXICO CITY .- The government of Mexico extradited to the United States, an agent of the United States Border Patrol, accused of collaborating with drug traffickers for the entry of Mexican drug shipments into the United States through El Paso, Texas.

With the surrender of former CBP agent Arturo Arzate Jr.. aka “Tury”, this brings to 103, the number suspects extradited abroad, of which 99 have been handed over to the American authorities, to date during the Presidency of Felipe Calderon.

The Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) announced the extradition of this border officer, who will be brought to trial in the US , before the Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas, He has been detained in Mexico for the past five months

According to the writ of extradition, Azarte is accused of using his position as a Border Patrol officer to accept payments for drug smuggling organization to permit passage of drugs and other contraband through his post in El Paso Texas.

Investigations into these criminal operations began in 2005, reported the PGR.

The Attorney Generals Office (PGR) reported with the help of witnesses, surveillance and and wiretaps, evidence was collected establishing Azarte’s guilt and association with organized crime.

Azarte was turned over to Federal Marshals in Mexico City on Wednesday at the PGR hangar.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents met Mexican federal agents on the Lincoln-Juarez International Bridge on Wednesday to transfer custody of a prisoner wanted in Mexico for homicide and drug trafficking, authorities said.Officials with the Agencia Federal de Investigacion, who took custody of Juan Garcia-Flores, 36, said he is wanted in Guanajuato and the border state Coahuila.

Though ICE officials only confirmed the alleged drug trafficking, AFI agent Jesus Garcia said Garcia-Flores was also being sought on homicide charges in Mexico.

He declined to comment on how long Garcia-Flores had been sought by Mexican law enforcement. Garcia did not clarify whether the alleged homicide occurred in Coahuila or Guanajuato.

According to ICE, Garcia-Flores sold and distributed marijuana in Mexico.

U.S. officials turned Garcia-Flores over to Mexican agents after he served a five-year prison sentence at the Three Rivers Correctional Institute, located about 120 miles northeast of Laredo.

Shackled and surrounded by at least three ICE agents at all times, Garcia-Flores, dressed in a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants, carried a small duffel bag and walked across the bridge in silence. He was met in the middle of the bridge by at least a half-dozen AFI agents bearing automatic guns across their chests.

After being unshackled at the ankles by U.S. agents, AFI authorities strapped a body armor vest on Garcia-Flores before escorting him into Nuevo Laredo.

On the U.S. side of the Lincoln-Juarez International Bridge, ICE agents from San Antonio’s Special Response Team and Laredo’s ICE division secured the perimeter before walking onto the bridge. They entered through a gate located at the dead-end corner of Santa Ursula Avenue and Zaragosa Street.

ICE agents also sat inside a vehicle at the corner of the streets holding rifles and other vehicles blocked in the van carrying Garcia-Flores.

Garcia-Flores’ prison sentence in the United States was the result of a March 2003 conviction for possession of more than 100 pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute, ICE said. Nina Pruneda, a spokeswoman for ICE, said he was also arrested in 1990 for possession of cocaine.

On Nov. 29, 2007, Garcia-Flores was released from Three Rivers and taken into ICE custody. At that time he began immigration proceedings, which includes appearing before a judge in immigration court for a determination on his status in the United States, Pruneda said.

The prisoner transfer Wednesday is an example of the cooperation between Mexican and U.S. officials to catch criminals on both sides of the border, Pruneda said. Anytime someone is wanted for a crime in Mexico, ICE does its part to help, and vice versa, Pruneda said.

“Those who think they can outrun the reach of the law by hiding out in the United States will find out otherwise,” said Marc J. Moore, field office director for ICE detention and removal operations in San Antonio, in an e-mailed statement. “ICE is working closely with our law enforcement counterparts both here and abroad to ensure that the United States is not used as a refuge for criminals or violent offenders.”