Ovidio Guzmán Appears At A Hearing For Possible Extradition

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

The son of El Chapo Guzmán was arrested by federal forces in Culiacán following an arrest warrant for extradition to the United States.

Mexico seeks arms dealers for Ovidio Guzman during his arrest

Mexico seeks arms dealers held by Ovidio Guzman during his arrest

Ovidio Guzmán López, 'El Ratón', and alleged leader of the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, appears this Tuesday before a federal judge to be notified of the formal extradition request presented by the United States government to Mexico.

Judicial sources informed that the proceedings are being carried out via videoconference at the Federal Criminal Justice Center located in the municipality of Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico.

Once the hearing concludes, the legal term will begin to run so that the son of drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzmán can file an injunction to prevent his surrender before the formal extradition request.

It is worth mentioning that there is an arrest warrant against Ovidio Guzmán issued by a federal judge based in Sonora.

Ovidio Guzmán is currently being held in the Altiplano maximum security prison in the State of Mexico. He was captured on January 5 in the town of Jesús María, in Culiacán, Sinaloa, during an operation by the National Guard and the Army, where he was arrested in flagrante delicto, as firearms for the exclusive use of the Armed Forces were found on him.

The U.S. formally requests Ovidio's extradition

The US government formally requested the extradition of Ovidio Guzmán López, son and heir to Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán's criminal empire, on February 27.

The legal representative of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico was the one who delivered the complete information of the file against 'El Ratón' in the District Court of the District of Columbia for methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana trafficking.

The information was received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Attorney General's Office in order to begin the proceedings, however, it is likely to be a long process, as Guzmán López has several legal options to challenge and appeal against the process, after which he would face the US justice system, the same one that has his father, El Chapo, serving a life sentence in the Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.

El Ratón faces prosecution alongside his brother Joaquin Guzman Lopez, El Guero, for having led a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel between 2008 and the present.

Who is Ovidio Guzmán?

Ovidio Guzman is the son of the second wife of Joaquin Guzman Loera 'El Chapo', Griselda Lopez. He is currently 32 years old and is identified as a member of the Sinaloa Cartel and leader of Los Chapitos.

He has three other siblings, but is known as an important member of the criminal organization, as he has been identified as one of the strategists in his father's 2015 escape from El Altiplano prison.

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