| | |  Americas & Beyond | July 2008 
Mexico: US Extradition Request Came Too Late
 Arthur H. Rotstein - Associated Press
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| | Picture of Mexican Jesus Navarro Montes released by the Mexican Secretariat of Public Security in Ciudad Obregon, state of Sonora, Mexico, 23 January 2008. (AFP/Getty) | | |
Tucson, Ariz. - The United States did not ask Mexico to arrange for a suspect's extradition in the death of a Border Patrol agent until the man had been freed, a Mexican government spokesman said Thursday.
U.S. officials presented Mexican authorities "with a provisional arrest request for extradition purposes" for Jesus Navarro Montes in late June, said Ricardo Alday, spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington.
But the request came more than a week after a Mexican judge cleared Navarro of an unrelated migrant smuggling charge and released him from a prison in Mexicali, Alday said.
Alday's announcement came hours after 39 U.S. congressmen wrote to President Bush and Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking whether the government had asked Mexico to extradite Navarro.
It also occurred shortly after Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said that the letter would be reviewed and that the department remains committed to investigating the death of agent Luis Aguilar.
After-hours calls to Carr and another Justice Department representative seeking comment on the Mexican announcement were not immediately returned.
Navarro was released June 18, five months after his initial arrest on human smuggling charges in Mexico, Alday said.
U.S. authorities allege Navarro's Hummer struck and killed Aguilar on Jan. 19 as the agent tried to stop suspected drug smugglers by setting spike strips on a road. Navarro was later arrested in Mexico.
Last month, Alday said Navarro was released after the U.S. government failed to issue an arrest warrant, provide evidence or contact Mexican authorities to seek extradition.
The letter from California Rep. Brian Bilbray — who heads a group of lawmakers supporting tougher immigration laws — noted the congressmen's concerns over Navarro's release and Alday's statement. The lawmakers want an accounting of communications between U.S. and Mexican officials.
Alday declined to comment on why American and Mexican officials had delayed making public the provisional arrest request for extradition.
The U.S. attorney's office in San Diego, which has been in charge of investigating Aguilar's death and has refused any comment, referred calls to the Justice Department. So did the White House media affairs office.
Alday said his government was working cooperatively with an ongoing intensive search for Navarro, whose whereabouts are unknown.
"Once he's located, the arrest warrant based upon the provisional request for extradition purposes will be executed," Alday said. |
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