El Chapo Has Been Extradited to the U.S., Mexico Says
BALTMORE (WJZ)-- Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was extradited to the United States on Thursday to face drug trafficking and other charges, according to CBS News.
Mexico's most notorious cartel kingpin, twice made prison escapes and spent years on the run as the country's most wanted man.
Mexico's Foreign Relations Department announced Guzman was handed over to U.S. authorities for transportation to the U.S. on Thursday, the last day of President Barack Obama's administration and a day before Donald Trump is to be inaugurated.
One said the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration took custody of Guzman in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, and a plane carrying him departed for New York at 5:31 p.m. Eastern time. The officials agreed to give the information only if not quoted by name because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
"The government of the Republic announces that today the Fifth Appellate Criminal Court in Mexico City ruled to deny the protection of the Federal Justice system to Joaquín Guzmán Loera against the agreements made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 20, 2016 which permitted his extradition to the United States of America in order to be tried for various crimes, after finding that those agreements complied with constitutional requirements, the requirements of bilateral treaties and other legal rulings that are in effect and that his human rights were not and have not been violated by these proceedings," the government said in a statement obtained by CBS News.
New York is one of several U.S. jurisdictions where Guzman faces charges.
The DOJ most recently indicted him on a new set of charges in Brooklyn in May 2016 on 16 drug related counts, CBS News justice reporter Paula Reid reported. It is mostly likely that he will face trial in that district, but the DOJ has not said that publicly.
"The Justice Department extends its gratitude to the Government of Mexico for their extensive cooperation and assistance in securing the extradition of Guzman Loera to the United States," the DOJ said in a statement.
The leader of the Sinaloa cartel has twice escaped from maximum-security prisons in Mexico, most recently in 2015. He was recaptured in January and is currently imprisoned in the northern border state of Chihuahua.
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