Dubbed the most powerful drug trafficker in the world and eluding arrest for more than a decade, the man known as “El Chapo” was finally caught by police
Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has been officially charged with drug trafficking in Mexico, the country’s Federal Judicial Council announced on Monday. The decision to charge him in Mexico makes the possibility he’ll be extradited to the U.S. anytime soon unlikely.
A judge has until Tuesday to decide if Guzmán, who was arrested in Mexico on Saturday, will stand trial now or be released, the Associated Press reports. Officials said Guzmán’s arrest came as a result of U.S. intelligence collected via wiretaps. Observers expect the judge to opt for a trial, though Guzmán has the right to appeal that decision, and drug lords in the past have used that tactic to string out extradition appeals for months or years.
Guzmán, who escaped a Mexican prison in 2001, is likely to be charged with additional crimes. The issue of whether to hold him in Mexico or send him to a more secure facility in the U.S. is a sensitive one for Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who has sought to establish more control over the antidrug programs the two countries operate together.
[AP]