Mexico City federal judge halts extradition of ‘El Chapo’ son

• Ovidio Guzmán, the accused head of a drug cartel.
• He is wanted by the US for drug trafficking.
• US promised up to $5 million in exchange for his information.

Ovidio Guzmán, the accused head of a drug cartel, was seized in a tense operation in northern Mexico on Thursday, which resulted in the deaths of 29 people.

On Friday, a federal judge in Mexico City stopped his extradition to the US.

Guzmán is wanted by the US for drug trafficking, and they have promised up to $5 million in exchange for information that will result in his detention.

They refer to him as “a senior member of the Sinaloa Cartel.”

The US has an arrest warrant out for Guzmán dated September 19, 2019, the foreign minister of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard, announced on Thursday.

However, he added that due to legal requirements, the extradition of Guzmán might not happen right away. Guzmán is currently the subject of legal actions in Mexico, he added.

Following a hearing at the Altiplano maximum security federal prison where Guzmán is being imprisoned, a different federal court reportedly ordered Guzmán to remain in 60 days of preventive detention for the purpose of extradition, according to the media network and other Mexican media.

On July 11, 2015, Guzmán’s father, “El Chapo,” had escaped from the Altiplano prison via a mile-long tunnel with a motorcycle on tracks.

Four years later, he was apprehended and found guilty of ten counts in the US, including running an ongoing criminal enterprise, trafficking in drugs, and possessing a firearm.

In addition to receiving a life sentence plus 30 years in jail, he was also required to surrender $12.6 billion.

In order to stop more carnage, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador ordered the release of Ovidio Guzmán after his arrest by federal police in October 2019.

His most recent arrest occurs only days before the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico City, which will be attended by US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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