If the United States is seeking you from Mexico, the 1978 bilateral extradition treaty is the skeleton of the case - but Mexican process still decides how much flesh gets put on it. A Juez de Distrito reviews legality first. The Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE) then weighs the diplomatic surrender package, including death-penalty assurances when US law allows capital exposure. Spodek Law Group P.C. owes loyalty to only YOU - not DEA, not the US Attorney, not anyone selling a quick flight north. Amparo practice can still interrupt a sloppy record. When you call, you get a risk-free consultation. Call 212 300 5196 - attorney on call, 24/7.
Juez de Distrito first - SRE second - two different fights.
Mexico does not treat US extradition as an embassy errand. A federal district judge tests dual criminality, identity, documentation, and treaty fit. Only after that judicial filter does SRE decide diplomatic surrender. Evidence gaps and specialty problems belong in the courtroom record. Assurances, timing, and foreign-policy posture belong at SRE. Build both tracks or you will argue the wrong defects to the wrong decision-maker while custody clocks run.
Nationality is discretionary - not a citizenship lottery ticket.
Mexican nationality can support a discretionary refusal under the 1978 framework, but citizens still get extradited. Families hear myths that a Mexican passport ends the case. It does not. Prosecutors also push domestic prosecution narratives when nationality arguments dominate the file. Fix citizenship as of the charged conduct, map any dual status, and decide whether nationality is leverage or distraction before someone markets it as an automatic shield.
Death-penalty assurances and human-rights overlays are live issues.
When a US theory carries capital exposure, Mexico typically demands assurances that the death penalty will not be imposed or carried out. Assurances language is not ornamental. Overbroad murder, drug kingpin, or racketeering wrappers can reopen assurance fights midstream. Amparo challenges often press fairness, detention conditions, and whether the US package actually matches Mexican offenses. We treat assurances and amparo as strategy tools, not afterthoughts.
Narcotics, laundering, and firearms packages from Mexico corridors.
US requests commonly stack Title 21 conspiracies, money laundering, and firearms counts across SD Texas, SD California, SD Florida, and SDNY. Creative federal theories travel farther on paper than they do under Mexican dual-criminality review. We attack wrappers that invent crimes Mexican law would not recognize in similar form while Mexican counsel tests document quality, translation gaps, and identity mistakes in the Juez de Distrito hearing.
Do not waive Mexican review to look cooperative.
Agents love voluntary-return scripts - come north, clear this up, face it like an adult. That script ends judicial and SRE leverage before either stage does real work. Statements to DEA or FBI in Mexican custody become US exhibits. You need Mexican counsel for the district-court and amparo fight, and US counsel for the indictment waiting after wheels down. Spodek Law Group P.C. coordinates both under one strategy from day one.
