Mexico’s most notorious drug kingpin is bound for Brooklyn, sources told The New York Post on Monday May 9.
Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, wanted in several US jurisdictions, will be brought to Brooklyn federal court first, with the transfer likely to happen next month, law enforcement sources said.
Once the world’s most-wanted fugitive, Guzmán has been held in a Mexican prison since he was recaptured for the second time in January after escaping through an elaborate tunnel.
On Monday, a federal judge in Mexico gave a green light to his extradition to the US, where he faces charges for murder, kidnapping and drug smuggling.
“He will likely be extradited [to Brooklyn] in June. That’s the word,” said a source.
In 2014, El Chapo was indicted by a Brooklyn federal jury for allegedly laundering $14 billion in drug money as head of the violent Sinaloa Cartel, which feds called the world’s largest drug-trafficking organization.
El Chapo Guzmán may be headed for Brooklyn when his extradition process is complete. (PHOTO: nydailynews.com)
He’s accused of ordering sicarios — or hit men — to carry out “hundreds of acts of violence,” including murders, torture, kidnappings and assassinations, the indictment says.
El Chapo — whose nickname means “Shorty” — faces similar charges in Miami, California, Texas and Chicago.
His attorney, Juan Pablo Badillo, said there are nine appeals pending against his extradition, which could tie up his transfer.
Extraditing him would be a violation of his human rights, Badillo told Reuters.
On Sunday, El Chapo was moved to a high-security prison in Ciudad Juarez, located on the Texas border.
Both the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn and the Attorney General’s Office declined to comment.
The 5-foot-6 El Chapo spent 13 years on the run after escaping from a Mexican prison in 2001.
He was captured in 2014 — but broke out again, this time through the tunnel, before being recaptured.
The drug lord’s most recent arrest was thanks in part to an interview last October he did with actor Sean Penn, who wrote a story about the clandestine meeting for Rolling Stone magazine.
The get-together also solidified El Chapo’s years-long obsession with telenovela actress Kate del Castillo, who had accompanied Penn. Mexican authorities are eyeing criminal charges against del Castillo for her association with El Chapo.
Source: nypost.com
