:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/E7FSNU26DNFNLJP5FOCKWW3V4E.jpg "Ovidio Guzmán López, Son of El Chapo, Extradited to the US to Face Drug Trafficking Charges")
Ovidio Guzmán López, son of notorious drug trafficker Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, has been extradited from Mexico to the United States to face charges for drug trafficking and other crimes. Guzmán López, a member of the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, was taken from the Altiplano maximum security prison and flown to the Toluca International Airport on September 15. From there, he was transferred to New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport and finally to Chicago, Illinois.
Interpol agents and Mexican authorities were involved in the operation, although the exact agencies involved have not been disclosed by the Attorney General’s Office or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This news comes over eight months after Guzmán López’s arrest in the Jesús María district of Culiacán, Sinaloa.
Former Drug Enforcement Administration agent Derek S. Maltz shared the first photograph confirming Guzmán López’s arrival in Chicago. Maltz celebrated the extradition, stating that it is a positive development and thanking the DEA and U.S. law enforcement for their efforts in combating drug trafficking.
According to Mexican journalist Dolia Estévez, Ovidio Guzmán could appear before a federal judge in Chicago on Monday, September 18. He will be represented by Jeffrey Lichtman, the same lawyer who defended his father.
Guzmán’s extradition is seen as a significant achievement in the attempts to prosecute Los Chapitos by U.S. authorities. However, it is uncertain whether it will have a lasting impact on the cartel’s activities. Some analysts believe that it may bring an end to the infamous fiasco of his first attempted arrest in Culiacán in 2019, which was described as a “bad Netflix series.”
Guzmán is expected to face prosecution in the Dirksen Federal Court in Chicago, although New York and Washington DC are also seeking his extradition for other charges. The extradition marks a significant step in the ongoing battle against drug trafficking and organized crime in Mexico.