Three suspects charged in the March 2010 murders in Ciudad Juarez of U.S. Consulate employees also were sent to the U.S.
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Mexican officials would not comment on the timing of the extraditions or say whether it was a response to security concerns after the Guzman escape.
Many experts agreed there was no direct relation with the Guzman case; extradition requests can take years to complete. Just over a week ago, another federal judge issued an order for his arrest to be extradited to the United States to face accusations of organized crime, money laundering, conspiracy, drug trafficking, among other crimes in Texas.
A release from the Justice Department quotes Attorney General Lynch as saying, “Today’s extraditions would not have been possible without the close collaboration and productive relationship the Department of Justice enjoys with officials at the highest levels of law enforcement in Mexico”. His lawyer told several media outlets in August that Guzman’s escape was spurred by his learning that extradition had become imminent.
“After the jailbreak, the Mexican government revealed it had received a US extradition request for the Sinaloa boss, who was the most wanted drug lord in the world before his capture in February 2014”.
Less than a month later, Guzman disappeared from a shower room in the maximum security Altiplano prison.
The partnership arose from a meeting in June between Mexican Attorney General Arely Gomez and her USA counterpart Loretta Lynch, according to Fox’s North Carolina affiliate Fox 8. Last year, the number was 66.
Critics said Pena Nieto should have handed over Guzman given Mexico’s past record with the capo.
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Valdez, known as “La Barbie” for his blonde hair and fair skin, hails from the Texas city of Laredo, where he was raised by working-class parents and played for his high school football team, according to a 2010 profile by the New York Times. Mexican and US officials believe a few of the grenades Kingery’s factory supplied to cartels ended up being used against Mexican military members and cartel rivals.
