Sandra Ávila Beltrán: Difference between revisions

'''Sandra Ávila Beltrán''' (born 16 October 1960) is a [[Mexican people|Mexican]] [[drug cartel]] leader, dubbed『La Reina del Pacífico』(The Queen of the Pacific) by the media.<ref name=AP2>{{cite news | title = Accused female drug lord ordered held over for trial in Mexico | url = http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20071005-1429-mexico-drugqueen.html | publisher = [[Associated Press]] | date = 2007-10-05 |accessdate=26 February 2014}}</ref><ref name=Newsweek>{{cite news | title = Underworld Queenpin | date = 10 October 2007 | url = http://www.newsweek.com/2007/10/09/underworld-queenpin.html | work = [[Newsweek]] |accessdate=7 February 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = 'La reina del Pacífico', una historia salpicada de fantasía y realidad | url = http://actualidad.terra.es/nacional/articulo/pacifico_reina_historia_salpicada_fantasia_1907749.htm | publisher = [[Terra Networks]] | date = 2007-10-06 |accessdate=23 October 2007 | language = Spanish}}</ref> She was arrested on September 28, 2007, and was charged with organized crime and conspiracy to drug trafficking.<ref name=AP2 /> Some charges were later dropped but she was still held on possession of illegal weapons and [[money laundering]], pending her extradition to the United States.<ref>[http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/187914.html SRE no descarta entregar a Avila] (in Spanish) 10 August 2011</ref> On August 10, 2012, she was extradited to the United States to answer to criminal charges by the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]].

Ávila Beltrán was born in [[Baja California]], Mexico, the daughter of María Luisa Beltrán Félix and Alfonso Ávila Quintero, a family member of [[Rafael Caro Quintero]], the former leader of the [[Guadalajara Cartel]].<ref>{{cite news|title=El nombre de una reina inspirado en la literatura|url=http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2010/05/15/el-nombre-de-una-reina-inspirado-en-la-literatura|accessdate=20 April 2012|newspaper=CNNMéxico|date=15 May 2010|language=Spanish}}</ref> Family connections have played a major role in her criminal career, having kinship with the [[Beltrán-Leyva Cartel|Beltrán-Leyva Brothers]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://elpais.com/internacional/2008/09/06/actualidad/1220652008_850215.html|title=Reportaje - Reina entre dos fuegos|first=FRANCESC|last=RELEA|date=6 September 2008|publisher=|via=elpais.com}}</ref> then top heads of the Sinaloa cartel "federation." Ávila Beltrán was in fact a "third-generation" drug trafficker in her family.<ref>{{cite news|title=La Reina del Pacífico, tercera generación de una familia de narcos|url=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/452358.html|accessdate=20 April 2012|newspaper=[[El Universal (Mexico City)|El Universal]]|date=2 October 2007}}</ref> Officials in Mexico say Ávila Beltrán is the niece of [[Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo]],<ref name=guardian>{{cite news | title = Queen of the Pacific has Mexico hooked as she faces drug charges | url = https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,,2184870,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12 | date = 6 October 2007 | accessdate=7 October 2007 | work = [[The Guardian]] | location=London | first=Jo | last=Tuckman}}</ref> the godfather and the boss of bosses of the Mexican drug trade who is now serving a 40-year sentence for his alleged involvement in the 1984 murder of [[Kiki Camarena|Enrique Camarena]], a U.S. [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] (DEA) special agent. Her great uncle Juan José Quintero Payán was extradited to the United States on drug trafficking charges. On her mother's side, the Beltráns got involved in [[heroin]] smuggling in the 1970s and later diversified into [[cocaine]]. DEA officials state that Ávila Beltrán never shrank from employing the violence that comes with the turf and that "she used the typical intimidation tactics of Mexican organizations."{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

She reportedly had affairs with several well-known drug barons in her youth.<ref name=guardian /> She was married twice; both of her husbands were ex-police commanders who became [[drug traffickers]]<ref>{{cite news | title = ‘Queen of the Pacific’ drug smuggler arrested | date = 29 September 2007 | work = NBC News | url = http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21043312 | publisher = Associated Press |accessdate=7 February 2011 }}</ref> and both were later killed by hired assassins.<ref name=guardian /> The police attribute her rise to power in the drug world primarily to her most recent relationship with Juan Diego Espinoza Ramírez, alias ''The Tiger,'' who is said to be an important figure in the Colombian [[Norte del Valle Cartel]].<ref name=guardian /> Ávila Beltrán lived in [[Guadalajara]], [[Jalisco]], and [[Hermosillo]], [[Sonora]] until the police found more than 9 tons of cocaine on a ship in the Pacific port of [[Manzanillo, Colima]] in 2001 and tracked the shipment to her and her lover Espinoza Ramírez.<ref>{{cite news | title = Big-time female drug suspect seizes Mexico's imagination | url = http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/news/204723.php | publisher = [[Associated Press]] | date = 2007-10-05 | accessdate=7 October 2007}}</ref>

Despite her high-profile lifestyle, Beltrán long avoided leaving police any evidence. In 2002, however, she unexpectedly contacted authorities for help when her teenage son was kidnapped for a US$5 million ransom. She eventually got her son back, but not without raising suspicions that launched an investigation. It took more than four years and 30 federal agents to close in and finally arrest Ávila. She was arrested, along with Espinoza Ramírez, on 28 September 2007, in [[Mexico City]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-4848271-503543.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody | work=CBS News | title=Mexico's "Queen Of The Pacific" | date=2009-03-06}}</ref> She was charged with and convicted of [[money laundering|laundering money]] for billions of dollars' worth of drugs smuggled from Colombia to Mexico.<ref>{{cite news | title = Glamorous Gangster: Alleged Drug Lord Captured | date = 16 October 2007 | url = https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3735161&page=1 | work = ABC News |accessdate=8 October 2010}}</ref>

In a tape of her police interrogation, she describes herself as a housewife who earns a little money on the side "selling clothes and renting houses." When asked why she had been arrested, she responded, "Because of an extradition order to the United States."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/world/americas/12mexico.html | work=The New York Times | title=In Mexico, a Fugitive's Arrest Captivates the Cameras | first=James C. | last=McKinley Jr | date=2007-10-12}}</ref> Her life behind bars at the Santa Martha Acatitla women's prison in Mexico City has apparently not been to her liking as she filed a complaint with a Mexico City [[human rights commission]],<ref name='USA Today'>{{cite news | title = Arrested 'Drug Queen' enthralls Mexico | date = 4 October 2007 | work = USA Today | url = https://www.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2007-10-04-1146115865_x.htm | publisher = Associated Press |accessdate=26 February 2014}}</ref> saying her cell had insects, which she referred to as noxious fauna. She also said the ban on bringing in food from restaurants violated her human rights.

In March 2009, journalist Anderson Cooper interviewed Sandra Ávila for the television news magazine ''[[60 Minutes]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/03/60minutes/main4841272.shtml|title=Mexico's "Queen Of The Pacific"|publisher=}}</ref>

In January 2011 an investigation was launched after a doctor was allowed to enter the prison to give Beltrán a [[Botox]] injection treatment, a therapy that is not authorized for inmates.<ref>{{cite news|title='La Reina del Pacífico' tendrá que declarar por un tratamiento de botox|url=http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2011/02/02/la-reina-del-pacifico-tendra-que-declarar-por-un-tratamiento-de-botox|accessdate=20 April 2012|newspaper=CNNMéxico|date=2 February 2011|language=Spanish}}</ref> The prison's director and hospital chief were relieved of their duties.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12347661|title=Mexico jail inmate in Botox row|date=2 February 2011|publisher=|via=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> All of the drug charges were dropped in early 2011. As of February 2015 Sandra is free according to CNN "Now, after more than seven years behind bars, the woman known as "The Queen of the Pacific" is free.<ref name="released">{{cite news |last=Shoichet |first=Catherine E. |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/08/americas/mexico-drug-queen-sandra-avila-released/ |title=Mexico's 'Queen of the Pacific' released from prison |work=CNN News |date=9 February 2015 |accessdate=2015-07-06 }}</ref>

In June 2012 several Mexican judges ruled out major obstacles to extradite Ávila Beltrán to the United States on cocaine trafficking charges that date back to 2001.<ref>{{cite news|last=Looft|first=Christopher|title=Mexico Judges To Allow 'Queen of the Pacific' Extradition|url=http://www.insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/2744-mexico-judges-to-allow-queen-of-the-pacific-extradition|accessdate=9 June 2012|newspaper=InSight Crime|date=8 June 2012}}</ref> Originally, previous requests seeking to extradite Ávila Beltrán had been denied twice by a panel and then by a judge, but Ávila Beltrán had to answer to the charges by the United States for several cocaine shipments seized in [[Chicago]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Mexican judges agree to extradite alleged drug queen to US|url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06/08/mexican-judges-agree-to-extradite-suspected-drug-trafficker-queen-pacific-to-us/?test=latestnews|accessdate=9 June 2012|newspaper=[[Fox News]]|date=8 June 2012}}</ref>

On 10 August 2012, Ávila Beltrán was extradited to the United States and flown to [[Florida]] to face cocaine possession and trafficking charges.<ref>{{cite news|last=BBC News|title=Top Mexican 'drug queen' Sandra Avila extradited to the US|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19200808|accessdate=10 August 2012|newspaper=BBC News|date=10 August 2012}}</ref> Ávila denied the charges and as part of the plea deal, Ávila said she provided "financial assistance for travel, lodging, and other expenses" to Espinosa from 2002 to 2004.<ref name="released" />

Ávila Beltrán was then deported back to Mexico, where she was immediately arrested on money-laundering charges on 20 August 2013<ref>{{cite news|last=Gomez Licon|first=Adriana|title=Sandra Avila Beltran, 'Queen Of The Pacific' Drug Trafficker, Returns To Mexico From U.S.|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/20/queen-of-the-pacific-mexico_n_3786301.html|accessdate=21 August 2013|newspaper=[[The Huffington Post]]|date=20 August 2013}}</ref> and was sentenced to five more years in prison and a fine for money laundering.<ref name="released"/> She was imprisoned at the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 4 federal prison in [[Tepic]], [[Nayarit]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Sandra Ávila Beltrán ingresó a penal de Tepic, Nayarit|url=http://noticias.univision.com/narcotrafico/noticias/article/2013-08-20/sandra-avila-beltran-se-aproxima-a-tierras-mexicanas#axzz2cckNIwQd|accessdate=21 August 2013|newspaper=[[Univision]]|date=20 August 2013|language=Spanish}}</ref> She was released in 2015 and now lives in the city of [[Guadalajara]].<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2016/may/16/mexico-sandra-avila-queen-of-cocaine-video Sandra Ávila Beltran, Mexico's former 'Queen of the Pacific', speaks out – video]. Jonathan Franklin, Victor Gutiérrez, and Chris Whitworth. ''The Guardian''. 16 May 2016.</ref> Since her arrest in 2007, she spent a total of seven years in prison, including two years in isolation.<ref>[http://aristeguinoticias.com/1605/mexico/soborno-de-100-millones-de-dolares-a-un-presidente-mexicano-reina-del-pacifico/ Soborno de 100 millones de dólares a un presidente mexicano: Reina del Pacífico]. 24 May 2016. ''Aristegui Noticias'' (in Spanish).</ref>