MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s government approved the extradition of alleged drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to the U.S. to face charges ranging from homicide to drug trafficking and money laundering.
Guzman will face charges in Texas and California. The U.S. has agreed that he wouldn’t face the death penalty, which is prohibited under Mexican law, the Foreign Ministry said in an emailed statement Friday. Guzman’s lawyers now have 30 days to appeal the decision, which one of them said he will do.
The alleged head of the Sinaloa cartel humiliated Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s government by escaping from a maximum-security prison last July. Guzman was recaptured in January after a six-month manhunt. Mexico this month transferred him to a prison in Chihuahua state, on the border with the U.S.
“Chapo Guzman’s reign of terror as the world’s largest and most significant drug lord will come to an end once he steps across the border,” said Mike Vigil, a retired head of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. “He will no longer have access to his criminal infrastructure. The cases in the United States against him are extremely strong.”
Jose Refugio Rodriguez, one of Guzman’s lawyers, told Milenio TV on Friday that his client will fight the extradition order and that the legal process could reach Mexico’s Supreme Court and last one to three years, during which time he may remain in Mexico.
The decision to extradite is a turnaround from the government’s previous stance.