YUMA, Ariz. – The Mexican government is extraditing major alleged drug cartel suspects to face justice in the U.S., following the prison escape of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, U.S. officials say. A total of 13 alleged cartel associates are to be brought to the United States. Two of those men, Edgar Valdez Villarreal and Jean Baptiste Kingery were brought to Tucson on Wednesday. Villarreal is a leader in the Beltran Leyva drug cartel known as la Barbie. Kingery is accused of making grenades and IED’s for the Sinaloa Cartel.
We spoke to the daughter of Jean Baptiste Kingery, she wants her identity hidden, she was living with him in Mexico for two years until the day he was arrested. She says that she feels he is innocent and that he was a great father, “When they came and raided our house they found nothing….He was really good with our school he would always be there.” She says that during her time living with him she never saw anything suspicious and feels that this may be a result of foul play from the Mexican authorities, “They came at him without a warrant and there was almost a gun fight between the under cover police and the city police because they wouldn’t identify themselves.” She goes on to say that even one of the city police officers was trying to keep Kingery out of custody because he thought he was a great man but was not able to. Kingery was scheduled to appear in Arizona District Court on Thursday.
Also extradited were Luis Umberto Hernandez Celis, Jorge Costilla-Sanchez, Carlos Montemayor, Alberto Nunez-Payan, Ricardo Valles de la Rosa, Aureliano Montoya-Pena and Julio Cesar Valenzuela-Elizalde.