New York, NY- NBC New York reported Thursday afternoon Mexico’s government has extradited drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to the United States, where he is wanted on drug trafficking and other charges.
The Foreign Relations Department announced on Twitter Thursday that Guzman was being sent to the U.S., the day before Donald Trump is to be inaugurated as U.S. president. The news release was sent out while Trump was attending his inaugural concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
A senior U.S. official told The Associated Press that “El Chapo” is already in American custody and is being flown to New York.
The convicted Sinaloa cartel boss has been held most recently in a prison near the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez.
Guzman had appealed extradition to the U.S., arguing the statute of limitations had run out on some of the crimes Guzman is accused of committing in the U.S., and that the allegations against Guzman are based on hearsay, not direct evidence.
Guzman was arrested last January after almost six months on the run following his escape from a maximum-security prison through a mile-long tunnel that opened to the floor of his shower.
He had already escaped once before in 2001 and spent more than a decade as one of the world’s most wanted fugitives until he was recaptured in 2014.
Story courtesy NBC New York
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