Editing Sandra Ávila Beltrán (section)

== Biography ==
Ávila Beltrán is the daughter of María Luisa Beltrán Félix, a relative of the [[Beltrán-Leyva Brothers]], leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, and Alfonso Ávila Quintero, relative of [[Rafael Caro Quintero]], former leader of the [[Guadalajara Cartel]]. Mexican officials also claim that Ávila Beltrán is the niece of [[Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo]]. These familial connections were a driving factor in Ávila Beltrán's rise to power, along with her relationships with several drug barons.

Ávila Beltrán reportedly became involved in the heroin trade through her relation to the Beltrán-Leyva Brothers, later diversifying into cocaine trafficking. DEA officials state that Ávila Beltrán never shrank from employing the violence that comes with the turf and that "she used the typical intimidation tactics of Mexican organizations." 

Despite her high-profile lifestyle, Beltrán long avoided leaving police any evidence. In 2002, however, she unexpectedly contacted authorities for help when her teenage son was kidnapped for a $5 million ransom. She eventually got her son back, but not without raising suspicions that launched an investigation. It took more than four years and 30 federal agents to close in and finally arrest Ávila. She was arrested, along with her lover [[Espinoza Ramírez]], on 28 September 2007, in Mexico City. She was charged with and convicted of laundering money for billions of dollars' worth of drugs smuggled from Colombia to Mexico.

In June 2012 several Mexican judges ruled out major obstacles to extradite Ávila Beltrán to the United States on cocaine trafficking charges that date back to 2001. Originally, previous requests seeking to extradite Ávila Beltrán had been denied twice by a panel and then by a judge, but Ávila Beltrán had to answer to the charges by the United States for several cocaine shipments seized in Chicago. On 10 August 2012, Ávila Beltrán was extradited to the United States and flown to Florida to face cocaine possession and trafficking charges. Ávila denied the charges and as part of the plea deal, Ávila said she provided "financial assistance for travel, lodging, and other expenses" to Espinosa from 2002 to 2004.

Ávila Beltrán was then deported back to Mexico, where she was immediately arrested on money-laundering charges on 20 August 2013 and was sentenced to five more years in prison and a fine for money laundering. She was imprisoned at the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 4 federal prison in Tepic, Nayarit. She was released in 2015 and now lives in the city of Guadalajara. Since her arrest in 2007, she spent a total of seven years in prison, including two years in isolation.