Mexico has finally extradited one of the most dreaded drug lords, Joaquin Guzman, to the United States. Guzman, who heads the Sinaloa Cartel, is considered the 'most powerful drug trafficker in the world' by the United States Department of the Treasury.
Known as 'El Chapo Guzman' for his 168 cm (5 ft 6 in) stature, he became Mexico's top drug kingpin in 2003 after the arrest of rival Osiel Cardenas of the Gulf Cartel.
Read also: Now a movie on drug lord Pablo Escobar; Javier Bardem, wife Penelope Cruz to star in new drama
Guzman faces drug trafficking charges in the US and could be slapped with a life sentence in a high-security jail. According to the BBC, he has already arrived in New York from a high-security prison in Ciudad Juarez that was close to the US border.
Guzman, famous for his prison breaks and brutality, faces two extradition requests – one from California and another from Texas. He will appear in a federal court in Brooklyn on Friday.
He had unsuccessfully appealed in Mexican courts to stay in his country, but the courts rejected it twice.
Five outrageous things Guzman has done so far:
Became one of the richest persons, but via illegal drug trade
Guzman was named the tenth richest man in Mexico in 2011, and was supposed to have a net worth running into billions of dollars. But in 2013, Forbes dropped him from the rankings due to "sketchy" spending of his earnings.
Interview with Sean Penn days before his arrest
Guzman gave a daring interview in 2015 to American actor Sean Penn and Mexican actress Kate del Castillo in Durango state jungle hideout, days before his re-arrest.
Escapes from high-security prison twice, an escape artist?
Guzman is not an escape artist, but merely had a team of specialist engineers who were experts in tunnel making.
In 2001, he escaped a federal maximum-security prison after bringing prison guards he got out via a laundry cart and was transported in the trunk of a car out of town.
In July 2015, he again escaped from a maximum-security prison by digging a 1.5km tunnel and in front of full view of security cameras. A tunnel was dug from his shower area to a house construction site. The tunnel was 33ft deep and 5ft 7 in height and 30in in width with artificial light, air ducts and high-quality construction materials.
Ruthless and brutal drug lord
It is for no small reason that Guzman was billed as one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world and one of the biggest drug lords of all-time.
The US government considered him to be the "most ruthless, dangerous, and feared man on the planet."
He has been linked to some of the most brutal murders. In his early days, Guzman would personally kill his men if they failed to deliver his directions.
El Chapo had successfully assassinated Rodolfo Carrillo Fuentes, the head of the Juarez cartel, which in turn led to the Mexican drug war.
In 2010, Sinaloa Cartel gunmen clashed with rivals that left over 20 dead near the rural town of Tubutama Sonora. It is known as the Tubutama Gun battle. In March 2010, six protesting farmers near Culiacan were also killed by the Sinaloa Cartel, mistaking them for their rivals.
In 2011, on order from Sinaloa Cartel, tortured bodes of 35 men and women were dumped along city highway, known as the Boca Del Rio massacre. In 2012, his forces dismembered bodies of 14 men and left them inside a minivan outside of Nuevo Laredo City Hall, called Nuevo Laredo Massacre.
In 2012, the Sinaloa Cartel placed headless bodies of 14 Los Zetas members near the office of the mayor, also called Nuevo Laredo Massacre 2.
US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) estimated that almost 43,000 people have died in Mexico's drug war since December 2006.
Created trade and shipping empire to support drug smuggling empire
El Chapo created an elaborate trade and shipping empire so that he could keep the drug trafficking business under him and not let it be handled by third-parties.
