Drug mafia Al Chapo’s son extradited from Mexico to America

Washington (Uttam Hindu News): Ovidio Guzman Lopez, son of Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, has been extradited to the US on drug trafficking charges. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has made this announcement.

In a statement Friday, Garland said the extradition of 33-year-old Ovidio Guzman is “the result of U.S. and Mexico law enforcement cooperation,” CNN reported.

“This action is the latest step in the Justice Department’s effort to attack every aspect of the cartels’ operations,” he said.

“U.S. law enforcement and Mexican law enforcement and military service members have cooperated in the fight against the cartels.”

Joseph D. Fitzpatrick, assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, told CNN that Guzman was taken to Chicago.

He said that the US Attorney’s Office expects to present him in court on September 18.

Guzmán was arrested by Mexican authorities in January in Culiacan, Sinaloa state. 29 people had died in this and since then he is in custody.

The US was demanding his extradition on drug trafficking charges.

Following his arrest, chaos broke out in the city and authorities asked citizens to shelter at home as clashes broke out between law enforcement and cartel members in different parts of the city, CNN reported. During those clashes, gangs At least 19 suspected members and 10 military personnel were killed.

Ovidio Guzmán was first arrested in October 2019, but was released on the orders of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to avoid bloodshed, and later went into hiding until his arrest in 2023.

His extradition comes after the release of El Chapo’s wife Emma Coronel Aispuro from a US prison on Wednesday.

He has served a nearly two-year sentence on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

The state of Sinaloa is home to one of the world’s most powerful drug trafficking organizations, the Sinaloa Cartel, whose leader is “El Chapo.”

According to the State Department, Ovidio Guzmán and his brother, Joaquin, serve in high-level command and control roles of their own drug trafficking organization, the Guzmán-López Transnational Criminal Organization, under the umbrella of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Ovidio and Joaquin began their drug trafficking careers after the death of their brother Edgar.

After Edgar’s death, the two inherited a large portion of the narcotics proceeds and began investing large amounts of cash in purchasing marijuana in Mexico and cocaine in Colombia.

Meanwhile, “El Chapo”, who escaped from Altiplano prison through a mile-long tunnel on July 11, 2015, was later captured in the US and convicted on 10 counts four years later.

He was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years’ imprisonment and ordered to forfeit $12.6 billion.