Extradition of cartel boss El Chapo’s son to US halted by judge

The extradition of drug cartel boss El Chapo’s son to the United States was halted by a Mexican federal judge the day after 29 people died in a wave of violence that followed his arrest by special forces.

Ovidio Guzman, 32, was seized by military troops in his home state of Sinaloa and brought to Mexico City by helicopter where he is now behind bars at a high-security federal prison.

The arrest of Mr Guzman, whom the US calls “a senior member of the Sinaloa Cartel” and has offered a $5m arrest reward, came a week before Joe Biden’s visit to Mexico.

In addition to halting the extradition, the federal judge on Friday also suspended a ban on Mr Guzman communicating with his legal team and family, according to CNN.

Following Mr Guzman’s arrest on Thursday, Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard stated that there was a warrant for Mr Guzman’s arrest in the US dated 19 September 2019.

But he said that Mr Guzman faces legal proceedings in Mexico and any extradition to the US could take some time.

Mr Guzman was previously arrested in October 2019 but quickly released on the orders of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador because of violent cartel retaliation.

Nineteen suspected gang members and 10 military personnel died after the capture of Ovidio Guzman in the state of Sinaloa, said Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval.

In retaliation, Cartel foot soldiers in the Sinaloa capital city of Culiacan attacked an airport and shot at military and civilian airplanes in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent Mr Guzman from being extricated. Authorities say that the airport will remain closed on Friday.

Convoys of the cartel soldiers riding in pick-up trucks also attacked military personnel with machine guns and heavy weaponry, setting fire to trucks and blocking exit roads from the city.

A total of 21 other people were also arrested in the operation in Sinaloa, the home base of the drug cartel that El Chapo ran before his 2016 arrest that led to extradition to the US in 2017.

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman escaped in 2015 from the Altiplano prison where his son is now being held, before being recaptured and extradited to the US.

There, he was convicted of 10 counts and was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years and ordered to pay $12.6bn in forfeiture. He is now being held in the highest security prison in the US in Florence, Colorado.