Federal Judge Moves 'El Chapo' Guzman Closer to Extradition
A federal judge in Mexico City has ruled in favor of extraditing drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the U.S.
Mexico's Office of Foreign Affairs announced the ruling on Monday. Upon receiving the case file, the secretary of foreign affairs will have 20 days to review it and either approve or reject the judge's decision. Meanwhile Guzman's lawyers are moving to appeal that decision which may delay the process.
On Saturday Guzman was transferred to a federal prison in Ciudad Juárez, 15 miles south of the U.S. border.
"What they are trying to avoid is to have "El Chapo" Guzman in the same prison for a long time because they know he has the capacity to corrupt the authorities," said Viridiana Rios, a research fellow for the Woodrow Wilson Center's Mexico Institute.
Guzman heads the Sinaloa drug cartel which currently controls smuggling routes out of Juárez.
