Ovidio Guzman, a son of imprisoned Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, has been extradited to the U.S. to face fentanyl trafficking prices.
U.S. Legal professional Basic Merrick Garland on Friday stated Ovidio Guzman’s extradition was the newest step in American efforts to assault “each side” of the drug trafficking operations run by the Sinaloa Cartel lengthy related to the Guzman household.
“I’m additionally grateful to our Mexican authorities counterparts for this extradition,” Garland stated in a press release.
“The Justice Division will proceed to carry accountable these chargeable for fueling the opioid epidemic that has devastated too many communities throughout the nation.”
Two Mexican officers accustomed to the matter additionally confirmed the extradition of Guzman, 33.
One of many heirs to his father’s trafficking empire, Guzman was briefly arrested within the northern metropolis of Culiacan in 2019, however launched on the orders of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to keep away from bloodshed when his cartel struck again.
He was captured in January after an intense firefight within the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa.
U.S. officers have portrayed Guzman and a variety of his brothers because the face of the risk posed by fentanyl, a extremely addictive poison that kills almost 200 Individuals each day. That demise toll has led to stress on the Biden administration and prompted diplomatic strains between the U.S. and Mexico.
The U.S. authorities requested Guzman’s extradition in February so he might face drug prices in a U.S. courtroom.
Extradition proceedings of outstanding Mexican drug traffickers can take years. The elimination of Ovidio Guzman was even faster than that of his father, who was flown to the U.S. barely a yr after his last arrest in Sinaloa in early 2016.
A number of Mexican media shops, together with information community Milenio, earlier reported that Guzman had been taken out of a most safety jail in central Mexico to be flown throughout the border.
In line with U.S. courtroom paperwork, Guzman and his brothers allegedly managed intensive worldwide operations within the fentanyl commerce, reaping lots of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} in earnings by “flooding” the U.S. with the drug.
Their wager on the artificial opioid 50 occasions extra highly effective than heroin helped intensify an opioid epidemic that put them within the sights of U.S. anti-narcotics brokers.
The State Division has been providing a reward value thousands and thousands of {dollars} for info resulting in the arrest or conviction or Ovidio Guzman and three of his brothers.
His father, “El Chapo” Guzman, rose to prominence on the helm of the Sinaloa Cartel. He was extradited to the U.S. in 2017 after twice escaping from jail in Mexico. The elder Guzman is now at a high-security “Supermax” lock-up in Colorado.
(Reporting by Dave Graham, with further reporting by Drazen Jorgic in Mexico Metropolis, Kanishka Singh in Washington and Dan Whitcomb; enhancing by William Mallard)
