Mexico A.G. reveals plan for the El Chapo extradition, indictments from 8 U.S. cities

Lucio R. Borderland Beat

The extradition chart popped up on the PGR twitter page a few hours after the news of the Rolling Stone, Sean Penn interview with El Chapo in October, while he was in hiding.  This is a another huge embarrassment for the Mexican Government and President Pena.  This may go against Chapo and hasten the extradition request approval for the United States.

Former Attorney General of the Republic, Jesús Murillo Karam, had rejected any thought of an El Chapo extradition; with a smirk he emphatically precluded any notion of that happening. 

In a January 27, 2015, interview with the AP press, Murillo Karam, then Attorney General, said he had no intention to extradite to the United States the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, who had been captured on 22 February 2014 truth be known, the U.S. had not filed for a request of extradition for Chapo at that time, or anytime near then, not until just prior to his second prison escape via  a “Chapo tunnel” in July of 2015.

Prior to Chapo’s escape, statements by president Enrique Peña and his AG both said there was no reason to extradite Chapo as “there was no danger of escape”.  

In a foolhardy statement, Murillo Karam said, "I can accept the extradition, but 'El Chapo' has to stay here to serve his sentence and then he can be extradited. So maybe in 300, 400 from now.”

Five months or so later Chapo would take a motorcycle ride through his tunnel to freedom.

At the end of last July, twenty days after the July escape of Joaquin Guzman Loera , an order for extradition to the United States was issued.

The order was requested by a Federal Court Southern District of California to the Mexican government, only two and a half weeks before the escape.

The Attorney General tweeted the chart below titled, “The procedure of extradition of Joaquin Guzman Loera”

Click on image to enlarge

The following is the breakdown expressed on the PGR chart

In June and August of 2015, the U.S. presented formal petitions for Chapo’s  extradition, the Mexican Attorney General's office said. By the 3^rd of September Mexico’s Foreign Ministry determined the requests met the requirements.

The next step shifted the application to the office of the PGR.

PGR presents the formal petitions to a federal judge panel on 7/29 and 9/18

The federal judge panel ordered a “formal arrest warrant for the purpose of extradition” on July 29 and September 21^st

SRE (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, requests the opinion of the judge and the record count 20 days to issue agreement granting or denying extradition of the person sought

Federal Judges issues an opinion on the admissibility of the extradition, or not, on the record, then refers the case opinion to SRE

Notifies the person sought, formal extradition request is granted

After completion of the orders, after the arrest ,  the SRE informs U.S

The office of Mexico’s attorney general issued a statement stating The Mexican government approved the petitions, and with the recapture, "both extradition requests presented by the U.S. will initiate".

This initiates a round of injunction, appeals, amparo filings by Chapo’s attorney’s to block the extradition.

First step is a filing within 3 days, to “pose exceptions”, which is what his attorneys said they would be filing today. This will be granted.  He will then have another 20 days to prove the objections.

Guzman, who is now back in custody after months on the run, has three days to "pose exceptions" and 20 additional days to "prove them," the Mexican Attorney General's office said.

When the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel was arrested in February 2014, the first action of his legal team was establishing a remedy to avoid extradition.

Chapo extradited? "Not for 3-400 years"

After the escape of July 2015, his lawyers continued their strategy of seeking injunctions against US extraditions requests and were successful in obtaining an injunction in October 2015.  But by then a fugitive from the authorities, there was no action to ratify the injunction (amparo), so on  December 18^th , the judge Sobresello Thirteenth District cancelled the action.

Consequently, for the moment, the capo of the Sinaloa Cartel is unprotected against extradition to the United States. 

To avoid it, his attorneys were required to file a new appeal requesting a provisional suspension.

Defense attorneys were expected to file for an injunction this weekend, on the basis previous injunctions had been granted against extradition.  Time estimates are in the six month range before extradition.

These are the eight open indictments in the US against 'El Chapo':

1. District of Arizona.  In 1993, Guzman Loera was charged with drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime.
2. Southern District of California in San Diego.  It was presented in 1995 with four counts of conspiracy to import up to eight tons of cocaine and possession of that drug distribution.
3. Western District of Texas in Del Rio.  This 2001 demand is for import and possession of narcotics.
4. Northern Illinois. District  Eastern Division.  In February 2008 a process against Guzman Loera, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and other trafficking activities by large quantities of cocaine, "generally shipments of hundreds of kilograms in one time as well as large amounts of heroin from Mexico and across the US border. "
5. East New York district .  nine counts against 'Chapo' for being leader of a criminal group, that smuggled 130 000 kilos of cocaine into the United States, were presented in July 2009.
6. South Florida, in Miami. District  in November 2010, was sued in this Court Guzman Loera money laundering, conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine.
7. District of New Hampshire .  The region was sued in 2011 for conspiracy to distribute and possession of  cocaine for sale. The document indicates that the crime began in 2009 and that the intention was to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of the drug.
8. Western District of Texas.  A lawsuit was fourteen charges filed in April 2012 against "the company Sinaloa Cartel" led by Guzman Loera and Ismael Zambada. According to the legal text, the two capos run a company that seeks  "the growth of its members and associate members through activities of conspiracy to import and distribution of illegal substances; money laundering, arms trafficking and commit murder ", which violates  The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act