Former Cancun Leader Extradited to United States to Stand Trial for Drug Crimes

While Cancun can seem like the ultimate vacation destination, not all is as tranquil as it seems. An LA Times report finds Cancun’s former mayor and governor extradited to the United States to stand trial for reportedly pocketing millions of dollars in bribes to assist a notorious drug cartel in moving more than 200 tons of cocaine across the border.

Mario Ernesto Villanueva Madrid is also charged with laundering millions of dollars through the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers investment firm. This successful extradition is a major catch for U.S. law enforcement, while it also targets the corrupt political system in Mexico.

According to John P. Gilbride, special agent-in-charge of the Drug Enforcement Agency in New York, Villanueva Madrid “abused the trust placed in him by the citizens of Quintana Roo when he facilitated drug trafficking and money laundering across international borders.”

Villanueva Madrid was once a powerful player who held court along the fabled Riveria Maya. Now 61 years old and known in Mexico as “El Chueco” or the “Crooked One”, he has been charged with accepting a total of $19 million in bribes, or as much as $500,000 for each time he had his police and government staff allow cartel smugglers to move Columbian cocaine on speedboats and tanker trucks from the beach ports into the United States.

The former political leader has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail. His capture and removal from Mexico is expected to put a dent in the workings of the Juarez Cartel, which has for two decades been one of the country’s most violent drug smuggling organizations, specializing in Colombian cocaine.