1. Drug Lord “El Chapo” Guzmán Not to Be Extradited.
By LuisaMuñiz
February29, 2014.
EL PASO,TX. –On February25th
, México’sAttorneyGeneral JesúsMurilloKaram confirmed to the press
that, forthe time being,druglordJoaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán will not be extradited from México, thus
setting aside the hopes of bringing Guzmán to be tried in U.S. territory. At least seven federal district
courts have indictmentspendingagainst Guzmán, and several are pressing for extradition, including El
Paso, where he was officially indicted in 2012 on different charges, including the killing of two U.S.
citizens.
“It wouldbe pointlesstodoanythingelse,”saidMurilloKaramina radiointerview,referring toMéxico’s
decision to keep Guzmán in national territory in order to obtain as much information as possible from
himabout the SinaloaCartel before evenconsideringextradition, “this is the beginning of an entire in-
depthinvestigationthatwillallow ustofully eradicate the organization…We are analyzingthisissue and
seeingall possibilities, not just judicial ones, but also matters relating to information, intelligence and
everything else we need to review. This arrest is the first act in a much stronger push to ensure the
organizationdoesnotcontinue itsexistence,”concludedMurilloKaram, who also denied the claim that
American operatives participated in the arrest of Guzmán, assuring that the operation was led by
Mexican marines.
However, U.S. officials do not agree with México’s decision and ask the authorities to reconsider
Guzmán’simmediate extradition. David Weinstein, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Miami, said that
the biggestconcerninkeeping Guzmánina Mexicanprisonwill be the possibilities of him being able to
continue runninghisdrugempire: "Itcouldbe arguedthathe wouldbe doingthe same thingfrom a jail,
and justbide histime," saidWeinstein. Inthe same way,a U.S. official who agreedtodiscuss the matter
anonymously saidthat“evenwithouttelephone communications you can transmit a lot of instructions
that thenare followed."Nonetheless,Mexican InteriorMinisterMiguel Angel OsorioChong assuresthat
Guzmán,whois being held in El Altiplano in Almolota de Juárez, a maximum-security prison, is “being
perfectly guarded and watched.” "He will be very isolated. He won't be allowed to continue with his
operations," said Osorio Chong to the Associated Press.
In spite of this,U.S.authorities stilldonotbelievein México’sabilitytokeep Guzmánimprisoned,given
the fact that, in2001, the drug leadermanagedtoescape from a Mexican prison, presumably by hiding
in a dirty laundry cart. “There is corruption in that country,” said Republican Congressman Michael
McCaul in a statement to ABC News, “I would ask that the Mexicans consider extraditing him to the
United States, where he will be put into a 'supermax' prison under tight security, where he cannot
escape, and be brought to justice with a life sentence.” If México agrees to extradite Guzmán in the
future, the U.S. attorney general would decide which district gets to prosecute the coveted.
In Chicago, DEA’sSpecial AgentinCharge JackRileysaidtothe presshe would“doeverything[he] canin
orderfor [Guzmán] tobe triedhere.”Nevertheless,Chicagoisnotthe onlycitylookingtotry“El Chapo.”
As mentionedbefore,sevendifferentcourtsaround the country are pressing for Guzmán’s extradition,
amongthemEl Paso,TX. In April,2012, Joaquín “El Chapo”Guzmán wasofficiallyaccusedinthiscityin a

2. 28-page indictment that alleged that he, along with 22 other men, was involved in the operations and
managementof the Sinaloa cartel, which has moved thousands of kilograms of cocaine and marijuana
intothe U.S. “This indictment has been years in the making,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge of the El
Paso Division Mark Morgan, back in 2012, “the focus is to dismantle the cartel by focusing on their
upper echelon.”
However, extradition from México seems less possible than it did a few years ago. During the
administrationof the currentMexicanPresidentEnriquePeñaNietofewerpeople have beenextradited
to the UnitedStatesincomparisonto the previousgovernment ran by Felipe Calderón, whose number
of extraditionsto the United States topped 100 per year. According to Stephen Vladeck, a professor of
law at American University in Washington and expert in extradition law, it is understandable that
Méxicoinsistsonkeeping Guzmánintheirownterritory. “There’san old saying that possession is nine-
tenthsof the law,” said Vladeck in an interview for The Washington Post, “but in this case, it’s actually
closer to 10-tenths, because if they want to go first, they can. If México wants to prosecute “El Chapo”
under their own laws, it’s their right to do so. And all the U.S. can do at that point is take a number.”