CHAPO B’KLYN BOUND
Faces US charges
Mexico’s notorious drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán will soon be saying
adiós to his Mexican prison cell, and is expected to journey to the Big Apple to face federal murder and kidnap charges, sources said Monday.
Guzmán (inset), who is wanted in several US jurisdictions, will be brought to Brooklyn federal court first, with the transfer likely to happen next month, law-enforcement sources told The Post.
The world’s former mostwanted fugitive has been held in a Mexican prison since he was recaptured for the second time in January after escaping through an elaborate tunnel.
On Monday, a federal judge in Mexico gave the green light to his extradition to the United States, where the charges against him also include drug smuggling.
“He will likely be extradited [to Brooklyn] in June. That’s the word,” said a source.
In 2014, El Chapo was in- dicted by a Brooklyn federal jury for allegedly laundering $14 billion in drug money as head of the violent Sinaloa Cartel, which feds called the world’s largest drug-trafficking organization.
He’s accused of ordering hit men to carry out “hundreds of acts of violence,” including murders, torture, kidnappings and assassinations, the indictment says.
El Chapo — whose nickname means “Shorty” — faces similar charges in Miami, California, Texas and Chicago. His attorney, Juan Pablo Badillo, said there are nine appeals pending against his extradition, which could tie up his transfer.
On Sunday, El Chapo was moved to a high-security prison in Ciudad Juarez, on the Texas border.
Both the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn and the Attorney General’s Office in DC declined to comment.
The 5-foot-6 El Chapo spent 13 years on the run after escaping in 2001. He was captured in 2014 — but broke out again through the tunnel.