Sandra Avila Beltran

What does it take to be a truly dangerous woman? Consider Sandra Avila Beltran, who combines a stomach for violence with the power and influence that comes with being a beautiful woman working in a man's field. Beltran is a massively successful drug cartel leader known in Mexico as a sort of folk hero. They call her "La Reina del Pacífico" (the Queen of the Pacific) for becoming the only woman to rise to prominence in Mexico's violent drug trade. There's even a song written in her honor...Read Full Story

Femme fatale and female narco honcho, Sandra Avila Beltran, has been removed from solitary confinement for the first time since she was jailed in a Miami prison in August of 2012. The “Queen of the Pacific” aged 52 known as much for her love of cosmetic procedures as for dominance over Pacific coast drug routes, now joins other female inmates at the Miami Correctional Facility. Last year Beltran entered a not guilty plea on charges of conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to distribute...Read Full Story

Mexican authorities have extradited Sandra Avila Beltran, a.k.a. the “Queen of the Pacific,” to the United States, where she is wanted on drug-trafficking and criminal conspiracy charges. The suspect was handed over Thursday to personnel from the U.S. Marshals Service at the Toluca airport outside this capital after a two-year process in which she had used up all her appeals, the federal Attorney General’s Office said in a statement. The AG’s office said Avila will be tried in a federal court...Read Full Story

A Mexican federal court ruled that a reputed drug trafficker known as the “Queen of the Pacific” can be extradited to the United States. The judges overturned a January ruling blocking the handover of Sandra Avila Beltran on grounds that U.S. authorities were seeking to try her on the same charges as those she had already been acquitted of in Mexico. While one of the two U.S. charges against Avila is related to the Mexican prosecution, the other is separate, the federal tribunal found. The...Read Full Story

“The Queen of the Pacific”, pleaded not guilty to two drug charges in federal court in Miami. In a brief court hearing in front of Judge Otazo Alicia Reyes, attorney Stephen Ralls said Avila Beltran was innocent of the charges of conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to distribute at least 100 kilograms of cocaine in the United States. The not guilty plea came a week before a hearing at which the judge must determine whether to accept the request of the defense of Ávila Beltran to...Read Full Story