Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, one of the world’s most notorious drug kingpins, is finally headed for a court date the United States sought for two decades while he made brazen prison escapes and spent years on the run in Mexico.
Extradited on Thursday to face U.S. drug-trafficking and other charges, Mexico’s most wanted man was expected to appear in a federal court in New York on Friday, the same day Donald Trump was inaugurated as President.
The Drug Enforcement Administration flew Mr. Guzman to New York from Ciudad Juarez late on Thursday, according to federal officials.
The U.S. has been trying to get Mr. Guzman in a U.S. court since he was first indicted in Southern California in the early 1990s. Now in his late 50s, he faces the possibility of life in a U.S. prison under indictments in six jurisdictions around the United States, including New York, San Diego, Chicago and Miami.
Recaptured a year ago
Mr. Guzman, the cartel’s convicted boss, had been held most recently at a prison near Ciudad Juarez, a border town across from El Paso, Texas. He was recaptured a year ago after escaping from a maximum-security prison for a second time, an episode that was highly embarrassing for President Enrique Pena Nieto’s government. — AP
