Reputed drug queen says Mexican prosecutors trumped up charges to please U.S.

By Mark Stevenson

ASSOCIATED PRESS

10:37 a.m. January 14, 2008

MEXICO CITY – A reputed drug queen wanted on a U.S. extradition request claims she was framed by Mexican authorities eager to please the U.S. government.

Sandra Avila Beltran said prosecutors unfairly linked her to the drug trade based on her alleged romantic involvement with suspected Colombian trafficker Juan Diego Espinoza Ramirez, according to an interview published Monday in the Mexican newspaper El Universal.

“When they detain male traffickers, they don't take into account all their girlfriends. They take into account what they have done,” Avila said from prison, where she is awaiting trial on charges of organized crime, money-laundering and conspiracy to traffic drugs.