Mexican former governor re-arrested on drug-smuggling charges

World Affairs Talk
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Mexican government re-arrested a former governor right after his release from the prison. He served a six-year sentence for money-laundering. According to Mexico's Attorney General's Office, the former governor Mario Villanueva was re-arrested on drug-trafficking charges. He served as a state governor of Quintana Roo before imprisoned in 2001. Mario Villanueva is also wanted by the US for his presumed role in aiding the Juarez drug cartel to smuggle a large amount of cocaine into that country. The Juarez cartel allegedly paid large sums of money to Villanueva so he would facilitate the unloading, transportation, storage and protection of cocaine cargos that cartel received from Colombia in the Mexican city of Cancun. According to New York's federal district court, Villanueva was involved in the trafficking of hundreds of tons of Colombian cocaine from Mexico to the US with a black market value of "undreds of millions of dollars. The former governor, who ruled the state from 1993 to 1999, was turned over to officials of Mexico City's Northern Preventive Prison. The PGR said the current provisional arrest order was based on the extradition treaty in force between Mexico and the United States. Share & Bookmark
Last Updated ( Friday, 29 June 2007 )

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