Mexico seeks extradition of former Chihuahua governor

MEXICO CITY – Mexican prosecutors say they have filed extradition requests for a former ruling party governor accused of diverting public funds.

The suspect is Cesar Duarte, the former governor of the northern border state of Chihuahua. He is believed to be in the United States.

The state’s new opposition governor, Javier Corral, accused Duarte of diverting public money to the 2016 electoral campaign of President Enrique Pena Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

In December, authorities in Chihuahua detained a former top PRI official, Alejandro Gutierrez, for allegedly participating in a scheme to divert about 240 million pesos ($12 million) in public funds for political campaigning.

The attorney general’s office said Friday extradition requests had been entered for Duarte on three charges, including electoral law violations.