Mexico fugitive ex-governor Roberto Borge extradited

4 January 2018

This file picture taken on June 5, 2017 shows the former governor of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, Roberto Borge (C), the sixth Mexican ex-governor under arrest for corruption, fraud, money laundering or involvement in organized crime, as he is being escorted by Panamanian police in Panama City. — Image caption,
Roberto Borge (centre) was arrested in Panama in June

Panama has extradited the fugitive former governor of the southern Mexican state of Quintana Roo to Mexico.

Roberto Borge, who was governor from 2011 to 2016, was arrested in June as he was about to board a plane to Paris.

Mr Borge, 38, will stand trial in Mexico over the sale of state-owned land worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

He is one of several Mexican former governors who went on the run after being accused of corruption..

In April, the former governor of Tamaulipas state, Tomás Yarrington, was arrested in Italy after evading capture for almost five years

Also in April, the ex-governor of Veracruz, Javier Duarte, was arrested in Guatemala after six months in hiding

César Duarte, who governed Chihuahua state from 2010 to 2016, is believed to have fled to the United States in March following allegations of corruption

Javier Duarte, former governor of the Mexican state of Veracruz, is seen in a car following his arrest upon his arrival at the Matamoros military barracks in Guatemala City on April 16, 2017

Getty Images

The arrest of Mr Borge came just weeks after Javier Duarte (pictured above) was detained

All were members of the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

Analysts say the number of high-ranking PRI politicians accused of corruption has hurt the party of President Enrique Peña Nieto ahead of the general election scheduled for 1 July of this year.

More on this story