Mexico on Friday agreed to extradite drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to the United States where he faces narcotics and murder charges, the foreign ministry said.
Mexico on Friday agreed to extradite drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to the United States where he faces narcotics and murder charges, the foreign ministry said.
The announcement follows a series of dramatic escapades by Guzman, 59, considered the world’s most wanted drug boss as leader of the Sinaloa cartel.
“The Mexican government grants his international extradition to the government of the United States of America for him to be tried,” the ministry said in a statement.
Guzman escaped from a top-security jail in July 2015 and was recaptured in January.
The police caught him after a colourful episode involving a US-Mexican soap opera actress and the Hollywood star Sean Penn, who met with Guzman in hiding.
The ministry said it had approved the extradition after receiving assurances from the US government that Guzman would not face the death penalty if convicted, since he could not receive such a punishment under Mexican law.
It said it had notified the suspect’s lawyers of the agreement to extradite Guzman, who is wanted by courts in California and Texas.
Guzman’s legal team has a month to appeal against the decision before it is carried out.
A Mexican judge on Monday ruled that Guzman could be extradited to face drug trafficking, money laundering and murder charges in a US federal court in Texas.
Previously a judge had also endorsed an extradition request based on cocaine-smuggling char-ges filed at a court in California.
Guzman’s lawyer, Jorge Refugio Rodriguez, said after those rulings that he would appeal if the foreign ministry decided to extradite his client.
He said Guzman has hired a US lawyer and would be willing to plead guilty in return for good prison conditions.
