U.S. announces charges against Mexican drug lord ‘El Chapo’

Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman will spend the rest of his life in a U.S. prison if convicted on charges he ran the world’s largest drug-trafficking organization during a decades-long criminal career, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday (January 20).

El Chapo (Spanish for “Shorty”), once one of the world’s most wanted drug lords, was set to appear at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) in federal court in Brooklyn to be arraigned on 17 criminal counts, a day after his surprise extradition from Mexico.

The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison, Robert Capers, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said at a news conference.

“I’m pleased to announce the extradition of Chapo Guzman to the United States from Mexico. Mr. Guzman will be arraigned later today in the United States District Court right here in Brooklyn on a 17-count sweeping indictment, which charges him with, among other things, leading a continuing criminal enterprise, or CCE, which covers his alleged drug trafficking activity from late 1989 through September of 2014, and culminates with his ruthless leadership of the Sinaloa cartel,” Capers said.

Guzman, 59, arrived in a small jet at Long Island’s MacArthur Airport after nightfall on Thursday (January 19) from a prison in the city of Juarez in the northern state of Chihuahua, where his Sinaloa cartel rules.

A few hours earlier, Guzman, who stands five feet, six inches, was bundled out of the Mexican cell block with his hands cuffed above his bowed head, Mexican television footage showed.

Guzman is charged in six separate U.S. indictments. He is accused of money laundering and drug trafficking, kidnapping and murder in Chicago, Miami, New York and other cities.

“The continuing criminal enterprise charges that I will describe for you by itself attributes to Mr. Guzman cocaine shipments of over 200 tons, which were supplied by some of Colombia’s most powerful drug trafficking organizations, and links Guzman to over seven and a half tons of cocaine and heroin that were seized in the United States, including four tons that were seized right here in this district in Brooklyn, Queens, and in Long Island,” said Capers.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have more than 40 witnesses ready to testify against Guzman, Capers told reporters, adding that the trial will likely last “many” weeks.

U.S. prosecutors gave assurances to Mexican officials that El Chapo they would not seek the death penalty in order to secure his extradition, Capers said. Mexico opposes capital punishment.

“As part of the extradition process we had to assure the Mexican government that the death penalty would not be sought in this matter. So he is, as it stands if he’s convicted of the CCE, he’s facing a mandatory life sentence. And for all of the narcotics-related, narcotics trafficking sentences, he is also facing a maximum sentence of life,” said Capers.

One of Guzman’s lawyers was surprised at the extradition, saying that four appeals in Mexico were outstanding to stop it.

U.S. authorities did not have much notice, either, although they had long-planned for Guzman’s arrival, Justice Department official Kenneth Blanco said at the news conference.

Leading the Sinaloa cartel, El Chapo oversaw perhaps the world’s largest transnational cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine smuggling operation, playing a key role in Mexico’s decade-long drug war that has killed over 100,000 people.

The indictment of Guzman seeks to recover more than $14 billion in drug proceeds and illicit profits.

The extradition came on the eve of Donald Trump’s swearing-in, a coincidence that some officials said was an olive branch to the incoming president who declared he would kick Guzman’s “ass” on taking office.

The Mexican attorney general’s office rejected claims the move was related to Trump’s inauguration, noting that El Chapo faces 10 pending cases in Mexico following his U.S. sentence.

He was captured a year ago after he had fled a high-security penitentiary in central Mexico through a mile-long tunnel, his second dramatic prison escape.

U.S. authorities, citing security concerns, declined to say where he would be held while awaiting trial, but they vowed to prevent any further escapes.