Second judge approves 'El Chapo' extradition to U.S.
A second Mexican judge has ruled in favor of extraditing notorious drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán to the United States, this time to face trial on murder, racketeering and other charges in Texas.
Last week, another judge ruled that Guzmán can be extradited from Mexico to face trafficking charges in Los Angeles. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said then that she expected an "imminent resolution" to the extradition requests.
The latest ruling, handed down Monday, is not likley to expedite extradition.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry has 20 days to review the requests. If approved, Guzmán's lawyers would have a month to file an objection, which would further delay a final decision. Guzmán, leader of the Sinaloa cartel, faces federal charges in several U.S. cities.
Defense lawyer José Refugi told the international news agency EFE that his office had been notified of the judge's decision. Refugi has vowed to fight extradition unless U.S. authorities work out a deal on prison conditions. Guzmán’s wife and legal team also have said El Chapo has faced threats in Mexican prison and his life could be in danger.
Guzmán made world headlines in July when he slipped out of his cell in the maximum security Altiplano federal prison and through a mile-long tunnel to freedom. The dramatic escape prompted a worldwide manhunt concluded in January with his arrest following a deadly shootout in Los Mochis, a Mexican coastal city of 250,000 in Guzmán's home state of Sinaloa.
Attorney General Arely Gómez González said the search had drawn few valuable clues until Guzmán eached out to actors and producers and began planning a biopic. That tipped off investigators to his location, and Gómez said a journey to the rugged Sierra Madre by American actor Sean Penn drew authorities to Guzmán.
El Chapo — meaning "Shorty" for his 5-foot-6 stature — has been an iconic figure in the drug trade for decades. He was first captured in Guatemala in 1993 and was extradited to Mexico. He was serving a 20-year sentence on drug-trafficking charges in a different prison when he pulled off an equally intricate escape in 2001. He was recaptured in Mexico in February 2014.
His grip on the multi-billion-dollar cartel remained strong, however. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says he was able to remain a force by communicating with his son and other cartel leaders through lawyers and others who visited him at the Altiplano prison outside Mexico City.