The International Herald Tribune has an article on Sandra Avila Beltran, the “queen of the Pacific”, an alleged drug trafficker currently fighting extradition to the Untied States.

Prosecutors here say Beltrán, a shapely, raven-haired, 46-year-old woman with a taste for high fashion, has played an important role in forging a federation of drug traffickers in the state of Sinaloa as well as creating an alliance between them and Colombian suppliers.

Along the way, she seduced many drug kingpins and upper-echelon police officers, becoming a powerful force in the cocaine world through a combination of ruthless business sense, a mobster’s wiles and her sex appeal, prosecutors say.