Mexico#226; s Catch-22 How the Necessary Extradition of Drug.pdf

Boston College International and Comparative Law R eview Volume 38 | Issue 1 Article 6 4-1-2015 Mexico’s Catch-22: How the Necessary Extradition of Drug Cartel Leaders Undermines Long-Term Criminal Justice Reforms Walter Rodriguez Boston College L aw School, walter.rodriguez@ Follow this and additional works at : /iclr Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, International Law Commons, J urisdiction Commons, and the Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons ecommended Citation Walter odriguez, Mexico’s Catch-22: How the Necessary Extr adition of Drug C artel Leaders Undermines Long -Term Criminal Justice Reforms, 38 B.C. Intl Comp. L. ev. 159 (2015), /iclr/vol38/iss1/6 This Notes is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Boston College International and Comparative Law eview by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. For more information, please contact nick.szydlowski@. MEXICOS CATCH-22: HOW THE NECESSARY EXTRADITION OF DRUG CARTEL LEADERS UNDERMINES LONG- TERM CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORMS WALTER RODRIGUEZ * Abstract: Grisly cartel violence has plagued Mexico in recent decades, effective- ly destabilizing its government and encasing its citizenry in trepidation and fear. A joint operation between Mexican Marines and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in February 2014, however, finally penetrated the myth of invul- nerability for drug trafficking organizations with the arrest of that world’s most powerful leader, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán. Although this development is ev- idence of Mexican law enforcement’s newfound ability to track and capture the m