A joint news release issued by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his counterparts in Mexico confirm a Breitbart Texas report about where a Mexican governor accused of cartel ties will stand trial.
Tomas Yarrington, a fugitive governor of the border state of Tamaulipas, is facing multiple drug trafficking and money laundering charges in U.S. federal court. In Mexico, he is facing charges of engaging in organized criminal activity. Yarrington is believed to have sold protection to Mexico’s Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas, and other cartels in exchange for bribes.
Agents with Homeland Security Investigations working with Italian authorities were able to track down Yarrington and arrest him in Florence. Yarrington has asked to not be extradited to either nation.
“The United States and Mexico have agreed that upon the conclusion of the U.S. prosecution of Yarrington, and upon a determination of extraditability pursuant to the U.S.-Mexico extradition treaty, he will be temporarily surrendered to Mexico so that he may be brought to justice for the offenses charged against him there,” the joint news release revealed.
Breitbart Texas reported last week that officials with Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (PGR) had contacted the U.S. DOJ attache in Mexico City to relay that Mexico would not be opposed to Yarrington being tried in the U.S. if the Italian courts decided in their favor. Initially PGR tried to claim the story was incorrect, however one week later the joint statement revealed that in fact, PGR is giving precedence to a U.S. prosecution.
The statement from U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his counterpart Raul Cervantes Andrade point to an apparent end to the tensions between the two countries over the extradition of the governor. Breitbart Texas had initially called out the PGR after officials had tried to take sole credit for Yarrington’s arrest, that claim was further disproven when Italian authorities issued a news release claiming that the arrest was carried out as part of a joint investigation with Homeland Security Investigations.
In the news release, the DOJ credits Mexico for cooperation in the investigation and points to both nations committing to exchanging information in the prosecution of Yarrington.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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