2nd Try To Extradite Mexican Accused Narco Denied

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican federal judge has denied a second attempt to extradite an accused drug cartel "queen" to the United States.

He says the foreign ministry couldn't prove she would face different charges in Florida than the ones for which she was acquitted in Mexico.

Judge Jesus Chavez's ruling Thursday says the seizure of nine metric tons of U.S.-bound cocaine is the core of the 2004 indictment against Sandra Avila Beltran in the Southern District of Florida.

She has been found not guilty of Mexican charges stemming from the 2001 seizure of a vessel carrying the drugs. A Mexican appeals panel rejected a first U.S. extradition request on the same grounds.

Avila remains in a Nayarit state prison pending separate money-laundering charges.