[Breaking news update, posted at 3:36 p.m. ET]
Lawyers for Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman will appeal the decision by Mexico’s ministry of foreign relations to extradite the reputed drug lord to the United States, attorney Andres Granados told CNN. Granados said that if the appeal is denied, Guzman’s legal team isn’t ruling out going to the Mexican Supreme Court to ask for a stay on the extradition.
[Previous story, posted at 3:18 p.m. ET]
Reputed drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s extradition to the United States has been approved, the Mexican ministry of foreign relations announced Friday.
The United States has been preparing for Guzman’s transfer for months and has been hammering out the security details, American officials said two weeks ago when a judge in Mexico approved the transfer.
The U.S officials told CNN that once he is transferred, Guzman could be sent to Brooklyn, New York, to stand trial on federal charges.
In Brooklyn, Guzman and other cartel leaders were indicted in 2009 on charges of conspiring to import more than 264,000 pounds of cocaine into the United States between 1990 and 2005, according to the U.S. Justice Department. The alleged traffickers also are accused of sharing drug transportation routes and obtaining their drugs from various Colombian drug organizations.
Guzman also faces charges in Arizona, California, Texas, Illinois, New York, Florida and New Hampshire. In its statement the Mexican Foreign Ministry said Guzman will first be sent to Texas for trial.
It’s not immediately clear when Guzman will be turned over to U.S. custody.
