Pubdate: Thu, 23 May 2002
Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)
Copyright: 2002, Denver Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.rockymountainnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371

MEXICO EXTRADITES MEXICAN MAN WANTED ON DRUG CHARGES IN TEXAS

MEXICO CITY- Mexico extradited a Mexican man wanted in Texas on drug 
charges, the federal attorney general's office said Thursday.

Rito Emilio Mendoza was turned over to U.S. Marshals from San Antonio 
on May 17.

He is wanted by a U.S. federal court on charges he helped smuggle 
more than 60,000 kilograms of marijuana into the United States in 
1996. Officials have said Mendoza was a member of the drug 
organization led by Francisco Rios, Eduardo Armando Quiroz and Ruben 
Valdez Carrasco.

Officials believe the three men, who were arrested during trips to 
the 2000 Olympics in Australia, controlled the flow of drugs through 
border crossings near Big Bend National Park.
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