MEXICO CITY — The government of President Felipe Calderon is extraditing drug suspects and other fugitives to the United States at a record pace.
Calderon’s administration has handed over more than 150 criminal suspects since coming to power in December 2006.
The extradition rate is double what it was before Calderon took office. And it represents a radical policy change from a decade ago, when Mexico, sensitive about its sovereignty, rarely handed suspects over for prosecution in the United States.
Mexico extradited 83 suspects to the United States last year and has handed over 70 so far this year, according to U.S. figures. Fifty-one more cases await approval by Mexican judges. In return, U.S. authorities say they have sent 26 wanted suspects to Mexico this year, a record.
