The US praised Mexico for extraditing an "unprecedented" group of alleged drug lords north to face justice -- a move that could up the ante in Mexico's drug war and prevent traffickers from running cartels from prisons.
The extradition late Friday of the purported head of the Gulf Cartel, Osiel Cardenas, and three other high-profile suspected drug barons is part of Mexican President Felipe Calderon's offensive against drug traffickers and their turf battles marked by executions, shootouts and beheadings.
Eleven other alleged criminals wanted in the US on a variety of charges were also extradited.
"The actions overnight by the Mexican government are unprecedented in their scope and importance," US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in a statement on Saturday.
"Never before has the United States received from Mexico such a large number of major drug defendants and other criminals for prosecution in this country," he said.
Mexico's attorney general's office released photos of the extradition showing the balding Cardenas being escorted onto a plane bound for the US in handcuffs, surrounded by US and Mexican agents.
"Some of the most brutal criminals in the history of our two countries have been extradited from Mexico to the United States to face justice," US Ambassador Tony Garza said in a statement released on Friday night.
Mexico has shown more willingness to extradite drug lords, even those facing life in prison: It extradited a record 63 alleged criminals to the US last year alone, but refuses to send anyone to the US who would face the death penalty, which is illegal in Mexico.
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