Former High-Ranking DEA Official Says Mexico Should Deliver Cartel Leaders 'On a Monthly Basis'

A former senior Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) official has called on Mexico to step up the pace of cartel extraditions, urging the country to deliver high-ranking traffickers to the United States "on a monthly basis" to further disrupt the operations of transnational criminal organizations.

Christopher J. Urben, a 24-year DEA veteran and former Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Washington, D.C., testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier this month, stating that Mexico's recent extradition of 29 cartel members, which included notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, should not be a one-time event.

"That needs to be done on a monthly basis," Urben said, according to Border Report. "If there are several hundred extraditions pending, they need to be sent to us. Anyone else who is a mid-level cartel member or higher should be indicted and expelled or extradited from Mexico in a timely matter. That would have a dramatic impact on the cartels."

Urben, now Managing Director at global investigative firm Nardello & Co., argued that extraditions are a proven tool for weakening criminal networks:

"As we learned from our successful fight against cartels in Colombia, when cartel members understand that they will face justice for their crimes in the United States, instead of their country's judicial system, it drastically impacts their ability to operate"

In his full testimony Urben highlighted that hundreds of cartel leaders remain at large or incarcerated under permissive conditions in Latin America, continuing to conduct business. He continuously praised the aforementioned February extraditions but emphasized that more consistent action is required.

Urben did make a point to highlight the Mexican government's more aggressive position against organized crime, especially compared to the previous administration's efforts:

"I do believe there's a substantial increase, but the baseline from AMLO (former Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador) was small, so much remains to be done. This is taking place in a country where criminal groups over the past six years immensely expanded their power and control of territories, people, institutions, elections and (regional) economies."