Mexico Extradites 'El Chapo' Guzmán to US
Mexico announced late Thursday afternoon that it is extraditing Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán to face federal charges in the U.S.
Mexico’s foreign embassy office announced the extradition via Twitter. It said that a court approved his extradition Thursday. The head of the Sinaloa Cartel had been held in the border city of Ciudad Juárez after twice escaping Mexican prisons. He’s fought extradition since his third arrest last year and has complained of torture and sexual harassment.
The extradition came just as Donald Trump arrived in Washington, D.C., to begin inauguration ceremonies. Roderic Camp is a professor at Claremont McKenna College and an expert on Mexico’s public security institutions and organized crime. He said the extradition was an easy way for Mexico to build good rapport with the incoming U.S. president and a low risk gamble.
"I don't think it would be considered a major sacrifice on the part of the Mexican government. The only risk of it reasonably one might suggest is that it may raise questions of nationalism given the position that Mr. Trump has continued to maintain on the so-called wall," he said.
Guzmán faces charges in several U.S. federal district courts including New York, Chicago as well as others in Texas and California. Last summer, Guzmán's attorneys tried to stop his extradition to California and Texas.
