Mexican judge recommends alleged Tijuana cartel leader not be extradited

A Mexican judge on Thursday recommended that a reputed leader of a Tijuana-based drug cartel not be extradited to the United States, after his defense argued he should not be tried twice on the same charges.

The judge made the recommendation to Mexico's Foreign Relations Department, which has overseen an increasing number of extraditions in recent years.

While the opinion in the case of accused drug lord Benjamin Arellano Felix is not binding, the government is required to take such rulings into account. The department did not comment.

Arellano Felix was arrested in 2002 and has already been sentenced to 22 years in prison in Mexico on …