Drug lord El Chapo's son Ovidio Guzman extradited to US

Ovidio Guzman, one of the sons of the incarcerated Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, was extradited to the United States on Friday.

Guzman, known as "El Raton" or "The Mouse," faces charges related to fentanyl trafficking.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasized that Guzman's extradition is a crucial step in the efforts to dismantle the drug trafficking network associated with the Sinaloa Cartel, a group long linked to the Guzman family.

"I am also grateful to our Mexican government counterparts for this extradition. The Justice Department will continue to hold accountable those responsible for fueling the opioid epidemic that has devastated too many communities across the country," Garland said in a statement.

The extradition of the 33-year-old Guzman was confirmed by two Mexican officials familiar with the matter.

What is Guzman accused of?

Ovidio, who is an heir to his father's drug empire, had been temporarily detained in Culiacan, but later released on the orders of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to avoid violent conflicts with his cartel.

However, he was captured in January this year following a firefight in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa.

At the time, US authorities had a $5 million bounty for his arrest. They had accused him and his brother, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, of overseeing methamphetamine labs in Sinaloa state, producing an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 pounds of meth per month.

"Other information indicates that Ovidio Guzman Lopez has ordered the murders of informants, a drug trafficker, and a popular Mexican singer who had refused to sing at his wedding," says information on a website of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Fentanyl trade worth hundreds of millions

US officials say Guzman and some of his siblings as central figures in the fentanyl trade, a highly addictive and lethal substance responsible for nearly 200 American deaths daily. This has been in a point of contention in the diplomatic relations between the United States and Mexico.

According to court documents, Guzman and his brothers allegedly oversaw extensive international fentanyl operations, especially in the US, and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in profits.

Their involvement with this synthetic opioid, which is 50 times more potent than heroin, contributed significantly to the opioid epidemic, making them targets of US anti-narcotics agencies.

The US government formally requested Ovidio Guzman's extradition to face drug-related charges in February.

Numerous Mexican media outlets, including the news network Milenio, had previously reported that Guzman had been transferred from a maximum-security prison in central Mexico to be transported across the border.

Extradition proceedings involving prominent Mexican drug traffickers can often span several years, but Guzman's removal occurred relatively swiftly compared to his father, who was flown to the US a year after his final arrest in Sinaloa in early 2016.

Guzman Senior, nicknamed "El Chapo," gained notoriety as the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel and was extradited to the United States after twice escaping from prisons in Mexico. He is currently incarcerated in a high-security supermax facility in Colorado.

This article incorrectly attributed a quote to Ovidio Guzman, instead of Merrick Garland. We have corrected the error. 

tg/mm (AFP, Reuters)