‘El Chapo’ now wants U.S. extradition ASAP
He fears for health as Mexican guards hinder his sleep, lawyer says
Drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán said he wants to be extradited as soon as possible to the United States because guards at the Mexican maximum-security prison aren’t letting him sleep, a lawyer said Wednesday.
Lawyer Jose Refugio Rodriguez said Guzmán asked him to negotiate with U.S. authorities for a lighter sentence and a stay at a medium-security prison, according to Mexico’s Radio Formula.
The lawyer said Guzmán “can no longer bear” his living conditions. He said Guzmán fears that his health will worsen because of the isolated conditions in the Mexican prison and that the lack of sleep could cause a heart attack or stroke, Radio Formula reported.
Although Guzmán’s lawyers had vowed to fight extradition as long as possible, Rodriguez suggested it could happen in about two months if Guzmán drops numerous appeals his lawyers filed, the Associated Press reported.
In January, José Manuel Merino Madrid, who oversees extradition efforts in Mexico for that nation’s attorney general, told Radio Formula that lawyers for Guzmán could drag out the extradition process for up to a year.
Guzmán made world headlines in July 2015 with his dramatic escape from Mexico’s maximum-security Altiplano prison. An international manhunt wrapped up Jan. 8 with his arrest after a deadly shootout in Los Mochis, a city of 250,000 in Guzmán’s home state of Sinaloa.
Attorney General Arely Gómez González said Guzmán wanted to make a biopic about his life and accepted an interview with actor Sean Penn and Mexican actress Kate del Castillo. That tipped off investigators to his location.
As head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, which smuggles large quantities of drugs into the USA, Guzmán was called “Public Enemy No. 1” by the Chicago Crime Commission.
Guzmán made a previous prison escape in 2001 with the assistance of prison guards. He spent years on the run, becoming the head of the Sinoloa cartel before his recapture in 2014.