Via the NYT: Mexico Pledges to Extradite Drug Traffickers to the U.S.:

President Vicente Fox of Mexico said Tuesday that his government would begin suspending trials against suspected drug traffickers wanted in the United States and extradite them for prosecution in American courts.

Such a move, which Mr. Fox said would begin in the next few weeks, would mark a significant shift in the fight against the drug trade in Mexico, where political leaders have rejected extraditions as an infringement of sovereignty.

Interesting and significant for a variety of reasons. First, the drug industry has increasingly been managed in Mexico in recent years, making the number of such persons rather high. Second, it is a dramatic shift of Mexican policy. And, third, it could result in a backlash by traffickers in Mexico–either via increased anti-state violence and/or increased corruption aimed at officials in the criminal justice system.