Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, known by various aliases including “El Chapo,” 59, arrived in the United States on January 19th, following his extradition from Mexico. He was arraigned the following day on a 17-count superseding indictment, before U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein in federal court in Brooklyn.
Following his extradition to the United States on related charges filed in the Western District of Texas and Southern District of California, the Mexican government approved a request by the United States to proceed with prosecution on the charges filed in the Eastern District of New York on May 11, 2016.
The indictment alleges that between January 1989 and December 2014, Guzman Loera led a continuing criminal enterprise responsible for importing into the United States and distributing massive amounts of illegal narcotics and conspiring to murder persons who posed a threat to Guzman Loera’s narcotics enterprise.
Guzman Loera is also charged with using firearms in relation to his drug trafficking and money laundering relating to the bulk smuggling from the United States to Mexico of more than $14 billion in cash proceeds from narcotics sales throughout the United States. As part of this investigation, nearly 200,000 kilograms of cocaine linked to the Sinaloa Cartel have been seized. The indictment seeks forfeiture of more than $14 billion in drug proceeds and illicit profits.
“This extradition is a tremendous victory for the citizens of Mexico and of the United States,” said DEA Acting Administrator Rosenberg.“Two principles stand out: No one is above the law and we simply do not quit in the pursuit of justice.”
