A Mexican federal judge last Friday (6) ordered preventive detention for the extradition of Ovidio Guzmán, one of the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, wanted by the United States, giving Washington now 60 days to do so Submit documentation to extradite him to American territory.
Gregorio Salazar Hernández, superintendent at the Almoloya de Juárez Federal Criminal Justice Center, based at Altiplano Prison, noted that the US Embassy will order Ovid’s release if it does not formalize its extradition request before March 5.
According to the Attorney General of the Republic of Mexico (FGR), the United States has had an extradition request for the son of “El Chapo” Guzmán since September 2019. However, this Friday a federal judge froze Ovidio Guzmán’s extradition after upholding an appeal by his lawyers, also ordering that the drug trafficker’s communications be unavoidable, allowing him to contact his family and defense attorneys.
The Mexican army arrested Ovidio Guzmán on Thursday in the northern state of Sinaloa and later transferred him to the Federal Center for Social Rehabilitation (Cefereso) Number 1 Altiplano also known as Almoloya Prison in the state of Mexico, where his father was being held and from which he was released escaped in 2015.
The new operation to capture the son of “El Chapo” surprised because it took place four days before the visit of the President of the United States, Joe Biden, to the summit of the heads of state and government of North America, which will also be attended by his Mexican counterpart Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Both López Obrador and Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard explicitly ruled out extradition this Friday, estimating that it will take the US between four and six weeks to bring charges against Ovidio Guzmán.
For her part, the Minister of Security and Civil Protection, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, stated that Ovidio Guzmán was responsible for crimes against health (drug trafficking) and firearms in Mexico and had also opened investigations into organized crime.
The United States, which filed the extradition request in 2019 and has offered $5 million for his arrest since December 2021, accuses the drug trafficker of crimes related to conspiracy to import drugs into that country, Rodríguez said.