CNN
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A federal judge in Mexico City on Friday halted the extradition to the United States of the son of alleged drug cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman, a day after he was arrested in a sting operation in northern Mexico that led to his death. 29 people.
The United States is seeking Guzman’s extradition on drug-trafficking charges and has offered up to $5 million for information leading to the capture of a man it says is a “senior member of the Sinaloa cartel.”
On Thursday, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard confirmed that the US has an arrest warrant dated September 19, 2019, but said the possible extradition of Guzmán would not happen immediately due to legal formalities. He also indicated that Guzman is facing legal proceedings in Mexico.
On Friday, the judge also suspended an order barring Guzmán from contacting his relatives and legal team.
According to the legal resolution, Guzmán’s legal team has three days to decide whether to ratify the measures they have filed for their client.
CNN has requested a response from Guzman’s defense, but has not yet heard back. He is being held at the Altiplano maximum-security federal prison, officials said Friday.
Video showing the arrest of El Chapo’s son (October 2019)
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– Source: CNN
Guzmán’s father, “El Chapo,” had escaped from the Altiplano prison on July 11, 2015, through a mile-long tunnel that contained a motorcycle on rails. He was later captured and four years later convicted in the US of 10 charges, including involvement in a criminal enterprise, drug trafficking and firearms charges. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years and ordered to pay $12.6 billion in forfeiture.
Ovidio Guzmán was previously arrested by federal authorities in October 2019, but was released on the orders of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to avoid further bloodshed.
His latest arrest comes days before US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visit Mexico City for the North American Leaders Summit.
Guzmán’s capture could be a way for López Obrador to show the United States that he is “in control of the armed forces and the Mexican security situation,” Gladys McCormick, an associate professor at Syracuse University who focuses on Mexico-US relations, told CNN. e-mail.
“It also undermines the force behind any requests by the Biden administration to stop the flow of fentanyl and other narcotics across the border,” she added.
After Guzmán’s arrest in Culiacan, chaos erupted in the city on Thursday. Authorities asked citizens to seek shelter due to clashes in several areas.
His arrest was the result of a lengthy operation involving 200 special forces, Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said on Friday. Local officials urged residents to shelter in their homes as clashes with cartel members broke out in various parts of the city.
At least 19 suspected gang members and 10 members of the military were killed in violent clashes in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa after authorities arrested Guzman and 21 others. No civilian deaths or injuries were reported.
Security has been increased at the Altiplano prison since Guzmán’s arrest, the minister added.
The state of Sinaloa, where Culiacan is located, is home to one of the world’s most powerful drug trafficking organizations, the Sinaloa cartel, which was led by “El Chapo”.
The US State Department, which offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Guzman’s arrest, wrote that a law enforcement investigation showed that Guzman and his brother, Joaquin Guzman-López, “inherited a large portion of the drug proceeds” after his death. another brother, Edgars Guzmāns-Lópess.
They “began investing large sums of money to buy marijuana in Mexico and cocaine in Colombia. They also began purchasing large quantities of ephedrine from Argentina and organized the smuggling of the product into Mexico as they began experimenting with the production of methamphetamine,” the State Department said.
The brothers allegedly oversee about 11 “methamphetamine laboratories in the state of Sinaloa,” according to the State Department.
