A federal judge has approved the extradition of Los Zetas cartel co-founder Jaime González Durán, who at one time was third in command of the gang after it split off from the Gulf Cartel.

Sixth District Court Judge Juan Mateo Brieba de Castro refused to grant a protection order to González, 47, who had appealed an extradition order issued by the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) in March.

He is accused of conspiracy, drug trafficking and distribution and money laundering, among others. He is also believed to be linked to the murder of singer Valentín Elizalde in November 2006.

Brieba noted in his ruling that the SRE met all the requirements of the extradition agreement between Mexico and the United States and provided sufficient evidence to warrant the action.

The resolution pointed out that Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard did not violate González’s constitutional rights.

González was a member of the Special Forces Airmobile Group (Gafes), a former elite unit of National Defense that was in charge of locating and capturing narco-trafficking crime bosses.

In the late 1990s, he and 40 other Gafes soldiers defected and joined the Gulf Cartel, acting as the cartel’s military arm called Los Zetas. The Zetas split from the Gulf Cartel to form a rival cartel in 2010.

González was third in command of the Zetas and the chief crime boss in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, until his arrest by Federal Police in November 2008. He was convicted of organized crime and drug charges and sentenced to 35 years.

He was described by the federal Attorney General’s Office as one of the most dangerous and violent of organized crime members, and one of the most wanted by Mexico and the U.S.

Source: Milenio (sp)