MEXICO CITY, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The Mexican government broke with its own legal procedures to hand over 29 suspected cartel members to the U.S., experts said, as pressure mounts over threats by President Donald Trump to slap tariffs on Mexican imports.
A dozen lawyers who are experts in extradition law and security analysts in Mexico told Reuters the handover of these high-profile jailed convicts, some sought by Washington for years, is unprecedented and a clear "jump" over any existing legal barrier.
The handover could expose some of the suspects to the possibility of execution in the U.S. The death penalty is normally barred in Mexican extraditions.
"It was a political extradition, without a doubt unique in the history of Mexico," said Raul Benitez, an expert in security and military issues at Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM).
The experts interviewed by Reuters said the mass handoff cannot be considered an "extradition" because it went outside the bounds of treaties and laws between the two countries.
