WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Mexico has extradited 15 people to the United States to stand trial, face sentencing or serve prison terms, U.S. prosecutors said Tuesday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer said 12 of the defendants are charged with federal narcotics-related offenses and the other three are accused of violent crimes in state-prosecuted cases.
"Over the past decade, the Department of Justice has established stronger partnerships with Mexico in many areas of law enforcement, including extraditions to and from each country," Breuer said in a release. "With these extraditions of individuals who committed or stand charged with violent and dangerous crimes, we look forward to seeing those partnerships continue to strengthen."
Three defendants arrived in Chicago Tuesday, nine arrived in Houston Saturday and three arrived in the United States on other days during the past week.
The 15 defendants are: Oscar Jacobo Rivera Peralta, Ricardo Valdez Torres and Alfredo Molina Garcia, facing drug trafficking charges in Chicago; Rigoberto Yanez, facing drug trafficking and other charges in Southern California; Jose Manuel Escobedo, an escaped convict returned to Texas to finish his prison sentence for narcotics offenses; Cantalicia Garza, facing drug trafficking charges in Texas; Louis Damian Barrientos Barba, charged with aggravated assault for allegedly shooting an individual in Texas; Jose Maria Cuevas Gonzalez, charged in Virginia with killing one person and wounding another; Sergio Humberto Lujan and Marco Antonio Lujan, returned to Texas to be sentenced for narcotics convictions; Timoteo Rios, facing murder charges in Texas for allegedly stabbing a woman during a carjacking; Jose Rodolfo Escajeda, an alleged high-ranking member of a narcotics trafficking organization wanted in Texas; David Plata Segovia, another alleged leader of a multi-state drug-trafficking organization wanted in Texas; Victor Flores, an alleged cocaine trafficker wanted in Arizona; and Bernardo Nava, an alleged methamphetamine trafficker wanted in California.
