Mexico approves extradition of druglord 'El Chapo' Guzman to US

Mexican druglord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman will be extradited to the US, the Foreign Affairs Ministry announced on Friday.

The ministry said it has notified Guzman, who was recently moved to a prison close to the US border, that it had approved an extradition request filed by a federal district court of Texas in the US, Xinhua reported.

"Today, Joaguin Guzman Loera ... was notified of the agreements with which the Mexican government grants his international extradition to the government of the United States to be tried by the Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas," the ministry said.

Guzman was charged with "the crimes of criminal conspiracy, crimes against public health, organised crime, possession of arms, homicide and money laundering," according to the ministry.

Guzman has 30 days to appeal the decision, the minister said. Also, the US gave assurances that Guzman would face the death penalty, it added.

In addition, the ministry said, the head of Mexico's powerful Sinaloa Cartel is wanted by the US District Court for the Southern District of California on charges of importing, possessing and distributing cocaine.

With Guzman in US custody, Mexican officials would no longer have to worry about the drug capo attempting another prison escape.

The trafficker first broke out of a maximum security Mexican prison in 2001. He was recaptured in 2014, but managed to escape again in 2015 from a different maximum security facility, through a tunnel that led from his cell's shower stall to a safe house more than a kilometre away. He was recaptured in January, 2016.

--IANS

sku/