The elusive, famed drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been extradited by the Mexican government to the United States, according to reports from multiple sources. He is reportedly being sent to the U.S. on Thursday, the day before Donald Trump is inaugurated as U.S. president.
El Chapo, the 62-year-old leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, had made two jailbreaks—including one from a maximum-security prison in 2015, achieved through a tunnel dug to his cell—but he was recaptured in Jan. 2016. He was most recently held near Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.
El Chapo is going to New York, according to the Associated Press.
El Chapo was taken into custody this afternoon and a plane carrying him departed for New York shortly after 5:30 p.m. EST.
The drug kingpin spent years on the run as Mexico's most wanted man.
The U.S. Justice Department issued a statement confirming Guzman was coming to the U.S., and expressing gratitude to Mexico for its cooperation, per the Associated Press.
El Chapo is wanted on charges of drug trafficking and employing hit men to carry out murders, among other things, and is expected to be prosecuted in the Eastern District of New York. He could face life in prison in the United States.
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