© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Ovidio Guzman, son of royal boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, is briefly captured by Mexican military police on October 17, 2019 in a residential area near the center of Culiacán in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Ovidio Guzman, a son of jailed Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, has been extradited to the United States where he is wanted on fentanyl trafficking charges, Mexican and U.S. authorities said on Friday.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Ovidio had been extradited, calling it the latest step in U.S. efforts to attack “every aspect” of the Sinaloa Cartel’s drug trafficking operations, long linked to the Guzman family.
“I am also grateful to our Mexican government colleagues for this extradition,” Garland said in a statement. “The Department of Justice will continue to hold accountable those responsible for fueling the opioid epidemic that has devastated too many communities across the country.”
Guzman, one of the heirs to his father’s human trafficking empire, was briefly arrested in the northern city of Culiacán in 2019 but released on orders from President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to avoid bloodshed as his cartel struck back.
He was captured in January after a fierce firefight in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa.
Two Mexican officials familiar with the matter also confirmed Guzman’s extradition.
Mexican media, including news channel Milenio, reported that Guzman was taken from a high-security prison in central Mexico to be flown across the border.
The U.S. government requested Guzman’s extradition in February so he could face drug charges in a U.S. court.
According to US court documents, Guzman and his brothers allegedly controlled extensive international fentanyl trafficking operations and reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in profits by “flooding” the United States with the deadly opioid.
In 2021, the State Department offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Ovidio’s arrest or conviction.
His father, “El Chapo” Guzmán, rose to fame at the head of the Sinaloa Cartel. He was extradited to the United States in 2017 after escaping prison in Mexico twice. The elder Guzman is currently incarcerated in a maximum security “supermax” prison in Colorado.
Source : www.investing.com