class=”sc-29f61514-0 icZBHN”>
After the famous drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán (66), Mexico has now extradited his son Ovidio Guzmán (33) to the USA. US Attorney Merrick Garland, 70, in Washington said the transfer took place on Friday (local time). U.S. authorities believe Ovidio Guzmán and his brothers took command of the Sinaloa drug cartel after their father was arrested several years ago.
Garland assured that his department will continue to hold accountable those responsible for the opioid crisis in the United States. The extradition of Ovidio Guzmán underscores “the importance of cooperation between the American and Mexican governments to curb drug trafficking.”
Murder is also being investigated
The statement stated that the young drug lord was accused of “drug trafficking, money laundering and other violent crimes.” U.S. investigators also targeted Ovidio Guzmán for ordering the killings of a police informant, a drug trafficker, and a well-known singer who refused to perform at a wedding ceremony.
U.S. authorities classify Ovidio Guzmán and his brother Joaquín Guzmán López, 37, as particularly influential members of the Sinaloa Cartel. His brothers Iván Archivaldo (40) and Jésus Alfredo (37) are also involved in drug trafficking. The USA had offered a reward of up to 5 million dollars (4.73 million euros) for information leading to the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán.
At the beginning of January, he was finally captured in Culiacán, the capital of the Mexican state of Sinaloa. 29 people, including 10 military personnel and 19 suspects, were killed in the operation. Ovidio Guzmán’s arrest followed a six-month surveillance operation to track down El Chapo’s son, according to the government.
His arrest sparked a wave of violence in Culiacán. Angry members of the Sinaloa Cartel attacked security forces, set up barricades and set vehicles on fire.
“Mouse” objected to extradition
Ovidio Guzmán, known as “El Ratón” (the rat), initially had a court order preventing his immediate extradition to the United States. U.S. authorities accuse him of running nearly a dozen laboratories in Sinaloa that produced the synthetic drug methamphetamine and of being involved in cocaine and marijuana trafficking.
Two days before Oividio Guzmán was to be handed over to US authorities, his stepmother Emma Coronel Aispuro was released from custody in the US. El Chapo’s 34-year-old wife, who has twin children with the drug lord, was sentenced to three years in prison in November 2021 for drug trafficking and money laundering.
El Chapo is detained in the USA
El Chapo was at times one of the most wanted criminals in the world. He was extradited to the United States in 2017 and sentenced to life imprisonment by a New York court in 2019 for drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons crimes. He is currently serving his sentence in one of the most secure prisons in the USA in the state of Colorado.
El Chapo founded the Sinaloa Cartel four decades ago and it is one of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels. The US accuses the country of flooding it with fentanyl, among other things. The synthetic opioid drug is approximately 50 times more powerful than heroin and is responsible for countless drug-related deaths in the United States. (AFP/chs)
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
