Mexico has authorized the extradition of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to the US to face charges including smuggling and murder.
El Chapo Guzman’s lawyers have 30 days to appeal and even if it proceeds it could be months before he is sent north.
He was recaptured in January, six months after escaping through a tunnel from his maximum-security prison cell.
Earlier in May the Mexican authorities transferred El Chapo Guzman to a prison near the US border.
Mexican officials denied the move to Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, was a precursor to extradition.
El Chapo Guzman faces charges from seven US federal prosecutors. He is also accused of money-laundering, and arms and drugs possession.
The drug lord’s lawyer, Juan Pablo Badillo, told Reuters news agency he would file “many” legal challenges in the coming days.
Mexico’s foreign ministry has said the US has guaranteed El Chapo Guzman will not face the death penalty if the extradition goes ahead.
Born to a farming family, El Chapo Guzman went on to become head of the Sinaloa cartel, at one point thought to be responsible for a quarter of all drugs entering the US via Mexico.
Before his escape in 2015, El Chapo Guzman had already fled prison, going on the run for more than a decade.
Mexican convicted drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been moved to a prison close to the border with the US.
He was taken to a prison near Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso in Texas, as part of a normal rotation of prisoners for security reasons, officials said.
The head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, El Chapo Guzman, also known as Shorty, was re-captured in January, six months after he escaped from prison.
Joaquin Guzman is wanted in the US on charges of smuggling drugs into the country.
Photo AP
His transfer to Ciudad Juarez was not a precursor to extradition, Mexican officials told Reuters.
According to Mexico’s National Security Commission, the move was in line with security protocols, and it had rotated more than 7,400 inmates as part of new security strategy.
The authorities said that El Chapo Guzman was moved to a new prison “because of works taking place to reinforce security” in Altiplano – his old prison near Mexico City.
Analysts suggested the move was to prevent him escaping during the works.
El Chapo Guzman, who was named Public Enemy Number One by the Chicago Crime Commission in 2013, has been indicted by at least seven US federal district courts.
According to Mexican officials, the process to extradite him to the US could take at least a year.
In March, El Chapo Guzman asked to be extradited rapidly so he could receive better treatment in prison.
His lawyer said El Chapo Guzman had asked him to stop fighting his extradition because guards at his prison would not let him sleep.
El Chapo Guzman was captured in January and returned to the Altiplano maximum security jail near Mexico City after six months on the run.
He had escaped from Altiplano in July through a one mile-long tunnel under the floor of his shower stall in his cell.
Leaked security footage of El Chapo Guzman’s prison break showed how guards failed to detect his escape until more than 20 minutes after it had happened, despite the sound of loud banging coming from his cell.
Mexican marines arrested him in the western state of Sinaloa after he fled a safe house through a storm drain.
Altiplano director and a number of guards were arrested in connection with El Chapo Guzman’s escape.
Mexico will begin the process of extraditing recaptured drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to the United States, the Mexican attorney general’s office has announced.
It said the move was in line with US extradition requests from 2014.
On January 8, El Chapo Guzman was detained and sent back to the maximum-security prison he escaped from six months ago.
El Chapo Guzman, who was one of the world’s most wanted drug traffickers, escaped from the Altiplano prison in July through a tunnel dug in the showers.
That was his second escape – he was first arrested in Guatemala in 1993 and escaped from Puente Grande jail in 2001, reportedly in a laundry basket after bribing officials.
El Chapo Guzman was on the run for 13 years before being held again in 2014. Previous requests from the US have been turned down.
Photo AP
On January 9, Rolling Stone magazine published an article by Sean Penn based on a meeting he had with El Chapo Guzman at his secret hideout before his capture.
The two men discuss various topics, including drug trafficking. El Chapo Guzman is quoted as saying: “If there was no consumption, there would be no sales.”
No detail was given about the time frame for an extradition but experts say the process could take months.
The attorney general’s office said that lawyers for Joaquin Guzman would have three days to file objections and 20 more days to prove them, though that timeframe could be extended, AFP reports.
In a statement welcoming El Chapo Guzman’s recapture, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said he had caused “significant violence, suffering and corruption on multiple continents”.
The US filed requests in 2014 for his extradition so he could face charges of smuggling vast amounts of drugs into the country.
El Chapo Guzman, who was named Public Enemy Number One by the Chicago Crime Commission in 2013, has been indicted by at least seven US federal district courts.
He was arrested on January 8 in the north-western city of Los Mochis in his home state of Sinaloa – which he had come to dominate through his drugs cartel.
During the raid, El Chapo Guzman managed to flee through a drain but was later caught by marines in a shootout.
Five suspects were killed in the operation and one marine wounded.
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been sent back to the maximum-security prison he escaped from six months ago after his recapture on January 8.
The Mexican drug lord was paraded before cameras before being bundled into a helicopter to Altiplano prison in central Mexico.
El Chapo (Shorty) Guzman escaped from there in July through a tunnel dug in the showers.
He was arrested on January 8 in the city of Los Mochis in his home state of Sinaloa – which he had come to dominate through the drugs cartel he led.
During the early-morning raid, El Chapo Guzman managed to flee through a drain but was later caught by marines in a shootout.
Six people, including one marine, are reported to have been killed.
Part of the reason El Chapo Guzman was tracked down was because he contacted actors and producers in the hope of making a movie about his life, Mexico’s Attorney General Arely Gomez said.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto described Joaquin Guzman’s arrest as a “victory for the rule of law”.
The United States congratulated the Mexican government but did not indicate whether prosecutors would seek Joaquin Guzman’s extradition.
In a statement, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Joaquin Guzman had caused “significant violence, suffering and corruption on multiple continents”.
El Chapo Guzman’s July escape was his second – he was first arrested in Guatemala in 1993 and escaped from Puente Grande jail in 2001, reportedly in a laundry basket after bribing officials. He was on the run for 13 years before being held again in 2014.
Mexican businessman Manuel Trillo, who is accused of financing the jailbreak of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman drug lord, has been sent to prison pending trial.
Prosecutors think Manuel Trillo helped Shorty Guzman break out of the Altiplano jail in July.
Now Manuel Trillo has been sent to that very same prison.
A manhunt is under way to catch El Chapo Guzman, who leads the Sinaloa drug cartel, since he escaped through a one mile-long tunnel on July 11.
According to investigators, Manuel Trillo is the financial operator of the Sinaloa cartel and bankrolled El Chapo Guzman’s escape.
He is also accused of using illicit funds to purchase properties from 2012 to 2015 under false names.
More than 30 people have been arrested in connection with Joaquin Guzman’s escape, including the prison governor and several guards.
El Chapo Guzman’s arrest in February 2014 was seen as a coup for Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
The cartel leader had been on the run for 13 years since escaping from another maximum security jail in 2001, reportedly hidden inside a laundry cart.
However, El Chapo Guzman’s spectacular break-out from the Altiplano prison caused huge embarrassment.
Video footage showed how guards failed to detect his escape until more than 20 minutes had passed.
Questions have also been raised how the prison authorities could have failed to notice the construction of the tunnel leading directly into El Chapo Guzman’s cell.
On CCTV footage leaked to the media, the sound of drilling can be heard reverberating through his cell.
Investigators say El Chapo Guzman’s associates must have been planning the jailbreak since shortly after his arrest.
Not only would the construction of the tunnel have taken time, but his associates also purchased a plot of land outside the jail and built a house to disguise the tunnel’s exit.
Attempts to recapture El Chapo Guzman have so far failed although authorities said he was injured when he narrowly escaped from a police operation last month. He is believed to be hiding in his home state of Sinaloa, in north-west Mexico.
Six key people, who allegedly helped fugitive drug cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman escape from jail in July, have been arrested in Mexico.
Among those detained is El Chapo Guzman’s brother-in-law and one of the two pilots who flew Guzman to his home state.
Mexico’s attorney general said a member of Guzman’s legal team, described as the mastermind, was also arrested.
El Chapo Guzman, aka Shorty, head of the Sinaloa cartel, escaped from a high-security prison through a specially dug tunnel.
Attorney General Arely Gomez told reporters on October 21 that the suspected mastermind of the escape had repeatedly entered Altiplano prison to visit El Chapo Guzman and update him on the operation’s progress.
She also said El Chapo Guzman’s brother-in-law had supervised the construction of the mile-long escape tunnel and organized transport.
“Today we are able to affirm that the group responsible for planning, organizing and carrying out the escape from outside the prison has been broken up,” Arely Gomez said, without naming the suspects.
The development comes days after officials revealed the drugs lord had suffered face and leg injuries when he narrowly evaded a police operation to recapture him in north-west Mexico earlier this month.
Arely Gomez confirmed on October 21 that after his escape, El Chapo Guzman traveled by land to the city of Queretaro, from where he caught a small plane to his home state of Sinaloa.
The drug lord’s escape was an embarrassment for Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who El Chapo Guzman taunted on Twitter after the event.
Several prison officials have already been arrested under suspicion of giving inside help to El Chapo Guzman, who fled through a tunnel that ran one mile from under a shower in his cell to outside the prison.
He was first arrested in Guatemala in 1993 and spent nearly a decade in another maximum-security Mexican jail before escaping, reportedly in a laundry basket.
El Chapo Guzman was on the run for 13 years before being held again in 2014 after a series of high-profile arrests of associates and covert surveillance by the US authorities.
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman suffered face and leg injuries as he narrowly evaded a police operation to recapture him, Mexican officials have confirmed.
The operation happened in north-west Mexico in recent days but few details have been released.
El Chapo Guzman, aka Shorty, head of the Sinaloa cartel, escaped from a high-security prison in July through a specially dug tunnel.
His escape was an embarrassment for Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
The Mexican government said in a statement that efforts to recapture El Chapo Guzman had been focused in the north-west of the country, not far from Guzman’s native Sinaloa state.
“As a result of these actions, and to avoid his capture, in recent days, the fugitive engaged in a hasty retreat, which, according to the information received, caused him injuries to one leg and the face,” the statement said.
“It’s important to clarify that these injuries were not a product of a direct clash,” it added, without giving further details.
The statement added: “The security cabinet continues to conduct all actions that will allow the recapture of this criminal.”
Mexico has arrested several prison officials since El Chapo Guzman’s escape.
Investigators said El Chapo Guzman had inside help to flee through a tunnel that ran one mile from under a shower in his cell to outside the prison.
After his escape, El Chapo Guzman took to Twitter to taunt the police and insult President Enrique Pena Nieto.
The drug lord was first arrested in Guatemala in 1993 and spent nearly a decade in another maximum-security Mexican jail before escaping, reportedly in a laundry basket.
El Chapo Guzman was on the run for 13 years before being held again in 2014 after a series of high-profile arrests of associates and covert surveillance by the US authorities.
Further details of the escape of Mexico’s most infamous drug lord, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, aka Shorty, have been shown in a new video broadcast by Mexican TV station Televisa.
The leaked footage shows that 26 minutes passed between El Chapo Guzman’s escape from his cell through a tunnel in the shower and guards noticing he was gone.
The hapless guard first on the scene reports a “big” hole – but does not clarify that the prisoner is missing.
El Chapo Guzman has been on the run since his jailbreak on July 11.
The CCTV footage is a longer version of that shown by the government shortly after El Chapo Guzman’s escape and has audio – which the one shown by government officials did not.
It reveals the reaction of the guards as they reach the cell and find no sign of the inmate – and a large hole in the floor of the shower area.
The guard, who is standing just outside the cell, repeatedly calls “Guzman? Guzman?” and receives no answer.
He then alerts his commander, telling him that there is “a hole in the shower drain”.
Asked by his commander how big, the guard says: “Big, boss, big.”
It is only then that the commanding officer says: “Listen, and the inmate is not there?”
“No, boss, he’s not,” the guard replies.
Televisa showed side-by-side shots of the CCTV footage from Shorty Guzman’s cell and from the control centre where guards monitored the prisoners.
Prior to his escape, the sound of loud hammering can be heard and El Chapo Guzman is seen turning up the volume of his TV.
Despite the sound of drilling that could be heard underneath the noise from El Chapo Guzman’s TV, the guards monitoring the screens seem unmoved.
However, it is not clear what the guards could see on their individual monitors.
The staff in the monitoring centre also apparently fail to notice the moment Shorty Guzman disappeared behind a small wall dividing the shower from the rest of his cell.
He had previously apparently used the toilet, inspected the shower area, then put his shoes on.
El Chapo Guzman’s escape from the maximum-security Altiplano jail was a huge embarrassment to the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto.
Not only was it the second time that El Chapo Guzman had broken out of a top security jail, it came just months after the then-attorney general said Guzman did not pose a flight risk.
Dozens of people have been arrested in connection with the escape, including many guards and the prison’s director.
On October 14, the governor of north-western Sinaloa state said extra soldiers had been deployed to the border region with Durango state to search for the fugitive drug lord.
Joaquin Guzman was born in Sinaloa and is the leader of the powerful cartel of the same name which has smuggled huge amounts of drugs from South and Central America to the US.
The international crime gang is also engaged in myriad other criminal activities such as money laundering and extortion, and has been blamed for countless murders.
Seven prison officers with involvement in the escape of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman have been charged on July 18, Mexico’s Attorney General has announced.
Officials said a further 15 people were being investigated.
El Chapo Guzman escaped from a Mexico’s maximum security prison through a tunnel that surfaced in his cell and ran 1 mile to a building outside the prison walls.
His Sinaloa cartel is responsible for much of Mexico’s trafficking of drugs to the US.
Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto, who has just arrived back from an overseas trip, said he shared the sense of frustration and anger of the Mexican people about the escape.
Enrique Pena Nieto said: “We are not going to resolve this only with anger and filling ourselves with fury. The only way to reverse this is with a recapture.”
He said that all those who had participated in the escape would be punished with “the full weight of the law”.
So far the government has fired two prison officials and the prison’s warden.
A poll in the newspaper Reforma said 88% of Mexicans believed the escape was an inside job, and 65% blamed the authorities’ incompetence rather than El Chapo Guzman’s cunning.
Many Mexicans have been discussing whether the government should have agreed to a US request to extradite Joaquin Guzman on the basis that American prisons would have been harder for Guzman to break out of.
First arrested in Guatemala in 1993, Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman spent nearly a decade in another maximum-security Mexican jail before escaping, reportedly in a laundry basket.
He was on the run for 21 years during which he continued to build his drug-trafficking empire.
El Chapo Guzman was arrested in 2014 after a series of high-profile arrests of associates and covert surveillance by the US authorities.
He had been tracked by a special unit of trusted Mexican Marines to a series of safe houses.
El Chapo Guzman was finally found with his family at a seaside condominium in a resort town, Mazatlan.
Mexican authorities are offering a reward of 60 million pesos ($3.8 million) for the capture of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the country’s most-wanted drug lord, who escaped from a top security prison.
A huge manhunt is underway for Joaquin Guzman, who got out of his cell on July 11 through a 1mile-long tunnel.
Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said officials at the prison must have helped his escape.
Three senior prison officials, including the director of the Altiplano jail, have been dismissed.
It has emerged that El Chapo Guzman fled despite wearing a monitoring bracelet and being subject to 24-hour surveillance.
“There will be no rest for this criminal,” said Miguel Angel Osorio Chong,
On July 13, he visited the prison and the nearby area for the first time since El Chapo Guzman’s escape.
The interior minister arrived by helicopter at the Altiplano compound, about 55 miles west of Mexico City, along with a group of congressmen and National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubrido.
Miguel Angel Osorio Chong is in charge of the operation in the absence of President Enrique Pena Nieto, who is on a planned visit to France for that country’s Bastille Day celebrations on July 14.
Security has been reinforced across Mexico. Flights from nearby Toluca airport were suspended and checkpoints have been set up.
Guatemala also increased checks along its northern border with Mexico in response to the news that El Chapo Guzman had escaped. It was there he was captured in 1993.
El Chapo Guzman was sent to a top-security jail in Mexico, Puente Grande, but broke out in 2001, reportedly hidden in a laundry cart after bribing officials.
Analysts are warning that the same could happen again, if El Chapo Guzman’s escape triggers conflicts with other cartels keen to protect their patches.
Dozens of prison guards are being questioned at the Altiplano prison to find out how he could escape this time.
Video footage showed Joaquin Guzman entering the shower area in his cell at 20:52 local time on July 11.
The tunnel linked the shower area to a house built over the past year across maize fields near the prison.
The tunnel would have allowed El Chapo Guzman, who is known as Shorty, to comfortably walk upright.
It had ventilation and lights and guards also found a motorcycle which they believe was used to transport earth removed as the tunnel was dug.
Inside the building near the prison, officials found a bed and a kitchen, suggesting those who dug the tunnel could have spent days at a time there.
A calculation based on the height, width and extension of the tunnel estimates that the earth removed would have filled 379 trucks, said Reforma newspaper.
President Pena Nieto called El Chapo Guzman’s escape “an affront to the state” and ordered a full investigation.
El Chapo Guzman’s personal fortune is estimated at $1 billion.
According to Mexican authorities, drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, aka “Shorty”, used an elaborate tunnel to break out of a maximum security prison.
El Chapo Guzman’s escape route from Altiplano jail was more than 1 mile long and had ventilation and stairs, the national security commissioner said.
Eighteen guards are being questioned.
Joaquin Guzman was last seen in the showers of the jail on July 11. It was the second time he had escaped from a top security prison.
In 2001, El Chapo Guzman broke out by hiding in a laundry basket after bribing prison officials.
He had been serving a sentence of more than 20 years after being arrested in Guatemala in 1993.
His recapture in 2014 was hailed as a victory for Mexico’s government.
Officials say that El Chapo Guzman’s escape was discovered when officers checked his cell in the jail, which is near the capital, Mexico City.
They found a hole around 32ft deep with a ladder, which led to the tunnel, with lighting, ventilation and stairs.
It came to an end at a construction site outside the prison walls, security commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido said at a news conference.
A motorcycle was also discovered, which police believe was used to transport tools and remove earth from the space.
A manhunt has been launched and flights suspended at a nearby Toluca airport.
Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto has ordered a full investigation to establish whether any officials helped Joaquin Guzman escape.
“I was profoundly shocked by the news. This is an affront to the Mexican state,” he said.
El Chapo Guzman’s wealth is estimated at $1 billion.
His rise to head of the Sinaloa cartel made him the world’s most wanted drug trafficker. It smuggles huge amounts of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine into the US.
Before his recapture in 2014, the US state department had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest.
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch issued a statement saying the US government shared Mexico’s concern regarding the escape of El Chapo Guzman.
“In addition to his crimes in Mexico, he faces multiple drug trafficking and organized crime charges in the United States,” she said.
Loretta E. Lynch said the US government is ready to co-operate with Mexico to help recapture El Chapo Guzman.
Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman – Mexico’s top drug lord and one of the world’s most wanted drug baron – has been arrested in Mexico.
El Chapo (Shorty) Guzman was the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, which smuggles huge amounts of illegal drugs into the US.
He had been on the run since escaping a high-security prison in a laundry basket in 2001.
Mexican police arrested him in Sinaloa state, in a joint operation with US anti-drugs forces.
Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto used his Twitter account to praise the forces involved in the arrest in the north-western resort of Mazatlan, in Sinaloa state.
Joaquin Guzman was taken to Mexico City and paraded before the media, before boarding a helicopter surrounded by heavily armed troops.
He was taken straight to prison, Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said.
The US state department had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest.
US Attorney General Eric Holder described Shorty Guzman’s arrest as “a landmark achievement” for Mexico and “a victory for the citizens of both Mexico and the United States”.
Joaquin El Chapo Guzman was the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, which smuggles huge amounts of illegal drugs into the US (photo Reuters)
Shorty Guzman has been indicted in the US on federal trafficking charges.
The Sinaloa cartel controls much of the flow of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine to the US.
Joaquin Guzman’s arrest is a big boost for the administration of Enrique Pena Nieto.
Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office just over two years ago, said he intended to change the “war on drugs” policy of his predecessor, Felipe Calderon, which critics say led to a rise in violence throughout Mexico.
But Mexican police and troops have killed or arrested key figures in the drugs cartels since Enrique Pena Nieto came to power.
The US has also arrested several associates and relatives of Shorty Guzman.
In May 2012, the US Treasury Department put two of his sons – Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar and Ovidio Guzman Lopez – on its blacklist of drugs kingpins.
Their assets were frozen and US nationals and companies were prevented from doing business with them.
Shorty Guzman’s father-in-law, Ines Coronel, was arrested nearly a year ago. He was accused of smuggling drugs into the US.
Joaquin Guzman was born in the town of Badiraguato, probably 56 years ago, and became an important figure in the drug cartels in the 1980s.
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