Saudi Crown Prince and UAE President discuss regional security in phone call    First batch of Saudi doctors and volunteers lands in Damascus    Trump: US aims to catch up Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund    SRMG Think hosts high-level discussion on IMF's latest GCC economic report in Riyadh    Death certificates can now be issued through Absher    GACA allows foreign operators to charter flights for domestic travelers in Saudi Arabia    PetroRent signing ceremony marks innovative collaboration between Petromin and Transregions to transform car rental and leasing services    Cristiano Ronaldo scores twice as Al Nassr thrashes Al Wasl 4-0 in AFC Champions League Elite    Al Ahli extends unbeaten run with 3-1 comeback win over Al Sadd in AFC Champions League Elite    German President visits King Salman Park Project in Riyadh    China hits back as Trump's tariffs go into effect    Guillain-Barre syndrome: India faces outbreak of creeping paralysis    Rebels declare ceasefire in DR Congo for 'humanitarian reasons'    Turmoil as Trump and Musk take aim at top US aid agency    Spain's former football boss on trial over World Cup kiss    Grammy Awards 2025: Beyoncé wins best country album    Museum Authority to open second edition of 'Art of the Kingdom' exhibition in Riyadh    Al Ittihad stages dramatic comeback to defeat Al Kholood 4-3 in thriller    Saudi composer Nasser Al-Saleh passes away at 63    Saudi drama icon Mohammed Al-Towayan passes away at 79    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Mexico judge orders release of cartel ‘Queen of the Pacific'
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 09 - 02 - 2015

MEXICO CITY — A Mexican federal judge threw out a five-year, money-laundering sentence for Sandra Avila Beltran, ordering the immediate release of the “Queen of the Pacific” for her alleged role as a liaison between Mexican and Colombian drug cartels.
A statement issued on Saturday by the Attorney General's Office said the judge ruled that Avila already had been tried for the same crime in Mexico and the United States.
The ruling brings to an end a saga that began in 2007, when Avila was arrested while sipping coffee in a Mexico City diner.
Her case is widely known in Mexico because Avila is the niece of Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, “the godfather” of Mexican drug smuggling who is serving a 40-year sentence for trafficking and the murder of US Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique Camarena in 1985.
Prosecutors alleged Avila spent more than a decade working her way to the top of Mexico's drug trade. They said her romance with Colombian Juan Diego Espinoza Ramirez brought together Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel with Colombia's Norte del Valle cartel.
Avila was tried in connection with the seizure of more than nine tons of US-bound cocaine on a vessel in Mexico's western port of Manzanillo and acquitted in December 2010. A Mexican appeals court upheld the verdict in 2011.
But she remained jailed while Mexican courts decided on a US extradition request, which judges granted in 2012. Avila also faced charges stemming from several seizures in Chicago in 2001 that amounted to 100 kilograms of cocaine.
A 2004 indictment in the Southern District of Florida did not specify Beltran's role in the drug-dealing case. In a plea deal in Miami in 2013, she pleaded guilty to a lesser count of being an accessory after the fact in an organization that included Espinosa Ramirez, who pleaded guilty in 2009 to cocaine trafficking charges.
She was sentenced to time served and returned to Mexico, where she was sentenced on the money-laundering conviction last year. — AP


Clic here to read the story from its source.