Mexico extradited Ovidio Guzman, one of the sons of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, to the United States on Friday, American authorities said.
• Also read: Four sons of drug lord “El Chapo” are charged with fentanyl trafficking
• Also read: Former Mexican minister guilty of cocaine trafficking
• Also read: Mexico: The President will consider the request for the return of “Chapo” Guzman
“Today, U.S. and Mexican law enforcement agencies successfully transferred to the U.S. Department of Justice Ovidio Guzman Lopez, one of “El Chapo’s” sons, who was charged with drug trafficking, money laundering, and monetary and other violent crimes,” the U.S. Department of Justice said The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
“The extradition of Lopez shows the importance of cooperation between the American and Mexican governments to curb drug trafficking,” the ministry added, thanking Mexico for this rendition.
A few days before a visit by Joe Biden last January, Mexican authorities arrested 32-year-old Ovidio Guzman in an operation that left at least 29 dead and sparked intense exchanges of fire between police forces and gunmen in Culiacán, a city of 800,000 in northwestern Mexico .
Ovidio Guzman, known as “El Raton,” is one of the sons of the Sinaloa Cartel founder who is currently serving a life sentence in the United States. The American authorities consider him, along with his brother Joaquin Guzman Lopez, to be an important member of the cartel.
“El Chapo” Guzman was considered the most powerful drug trafficker in the world until his arrest in 2016 and his extradition to the United States in 2017.
He was sentenced to life in prison in July 2019 after a maximum security trial in New York and is serving his sentence in a maximum security prison in Colorado.