Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts

Sunday, 10 January 2016

'El Chapo' Guzman: Sean Penn interview provokes US scorn

On Saturday journalists went to see the manhole through which Guzman tried to escape during the operation on Friday

The Obama administration and a US presidential hopeful have criticised Sean Penn's interview with Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

It was conducted in October in the Mexican jungle after Guzman's jail break, and published by Rolling Stone.

A White House spokesman said the Hollywood actor's "so-called interview" was "maddening", while Republican Marco Rubio said it was "grotesque".

Guzman, 58, was recaptured on Friday after months on the run.

Unnamed Mexican officials say Penn's secret meeting helped lead them to the boss of the Sinaloa drug cartel.

He has now been returned to the maximum-security Altiplano jail, from where he escaped in July via a tunnel dug to the shower in his cell.

Social media reaction

Twitter users were quick to offer their verdict on the interview:


In the Rolling Stone article, the result of a seven-hour "sit-down", Guzman said he was the world's leading supplier of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana.

White House chief of staff Denis McDonough told CNN: "One thing I will tell you is that this braggadocious action about how much heroin he sends around the world, including the United States, is maddening.

"We see a heroin epidemic, an opioid addiction epidemic, in this country... But El Chapo's behind bars - that's where he should stay."

The Mexican authorities would not say whether they would investigate Penn and a Mexican actress, Kate del Castillo, who apparently arranged the interview.

The interview took place in a remote part of Durango state, which neighbours Sinaloa

Mr McDonough declined to answer a question about whether the US would hand Penn over to Mexico for questioning.

"Well, it poses a lot of very interesting questions both for him and for others involved in this-so-called interview, so we'll see what happens on that - I'm not going to get ahead of it," he said.

Mr Rubio told ABC: "If one of these American actors who have benefited from the greatness of this country, who have made money from our free enterprise system, want to go fawn all over a criminal and a drug trafficker in their interviews, they have a constitutional right to do it. I find it grotesque."

Guzman timeline
  • February 2014: Recapture after 13 years on the run following "laundry basket" escape from Puente Grande maximum security prison
  • July 2015: Escape via tunnel from Altiplano prison
  • 2 October 2015: Interviewed by US actor Sean Penn in Durango state jungle hideout and then by phone and video
  • 17 October: Mexican officials announce narrow escape as police try to recapture him in neighbouring Sinaloa state; suffers face and leg injuries
  • January 2016: Recaptured in city of Los Mochis, Sinaloa state
Mexico has said it will begin the process of extraditing Guzman to the US, in line with extradition requests from 2015.

He is charged with smuggling vast amounts of drugs into the US.

No detail has been given about the timeframe for extradition but experts say the process could take months.

The BBC's Katy Watson, in Mexico City, says his extradition is by no means a foregone conclusion. The two countries have an extradition treaty but there are many steps that need to be taken and officials who need to approve the request.

Previous requests from the US have been turned down.

Guzman, who was named Public Enemy Number One by the Chicago Crime Commission in 2013, has been indicted by at least seven US federal district courts.

He was recaptured on Friday in the north-western city of Los Mochis in his home state of Sinaloa, which he had come to dominate through his drugs cartel.

During the raid, he managed to flee through a drain but was later caught by marines in a shootout.

Five drug gang suspects were killed in the operation and one marine wounded.


Source: BBC

Saturday, 9 January 2016

'El Chapo': Mexico signals extradition to US

Guzman's recapture dominated Mexico's front pages on Saturday

The Mexican attorney general's office says it will begin the process of extraditing recaptured drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the US.

It said the move was in line with US extradition requests from 2014.

On Friday Guzman was detained and sent back to the maximum-security prison he escaped from six months ago.

Guzman, who was one of the world's most wanted drug traffickers, escaped from there in July through a tunnel dug in the showers.

Previous requests from the US have been turned down, but correspondents say Mexican authorities may have decided it is no longer safe to hold him in the country, such is his ability to bribe and buy officials.

No date has been given for an initial extradition hearing.

The attorney general's office said that lawyers for Guzman would have three days to file objections and 20 more days to prove them, though that timeframe could be extended, AFP news agency reports.


In a statement welcoming Guzman's recapture, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Guzman had caused "significant violence, suffering and corruption on multiple continents".

The US filed requests in 2014 for his extradition so he could face charges of smuggling vast amounts of drugs into the country.

Guzman, who was named Public Enemy Number One by the Chicago Crime Commission in 2013, has been indicted by at least seven US federal district courts.

Guzman was arrested on Friday in the north-western city of Los Mochis in his home state of Sinaloa - which he had come to dominate through his drugs cartel.

During the raid, he managed to flee through a drain but was later caught by marines in a shootout.

Five suspects were killed in the operation and one marine wounded.


Source: BBC

Friday, 8 January 2016

'El Chapo' returned to Mexico Altiplano prison

Guzman was one of the world's most wanted drug traffickers

Captured Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is being taken back to the maximum-security prison from where he escaped six months ago.

He was paraded before cameras as he was bundled into a marines helicopter to Altiplano prison in central Mexico.

He escaped from there in July through a tunnel dug in the showers.

Guzman was arrested in the city of Los Mochis in his home state of Sinaloa - which he had come to dominate through the drugs cartel he led.

During an early-morning raid on Friday, he managed to flee through a drain but was later caught by marines amid a shootout.

Six people, including one marine, are reported to have been killed.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto described Guzman's arrest as a "victory for the rule of law".

Later on Friday Attorney General Arely Gomez told reporters: "Guzman Loera will be taken again to Altiplano", some 90km (55 miles) west of Mexico City,

The capture of El Chapo will be a big boost to President Enrique Pena Nieto's administration.

The escape last July of Mexico's most-wanted criminal was politically embarrassing. It made the government look stupid at best and institutionally corrupt at worst - many people doubted El Chapo's escape could have happened without inside help.

It was made worse too by the fact that the president had previously said that if he escaped again it would be unforgivable.

Mr Pena Nieto has called the arrest "mission accomplished" - hopefully it is third-time lucky for the government with El Chapo remaining behind bars and the president's legacy not being that of allowing a violent criminal to escape.

The US congratulated the Mexican government but did not indicate whether prosecutors would seek Guzman's extradition.

In a statement, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Guzman had caused "significant violence, suffering and corruption on multiple continents".

Guzman's July escape was his second - he was first arrested in Guatemala in 1993 and escaped from Puente Grande jail in 2001, reportedly in a laundry basket after bribing officials.

He was on the run for 13 years before being held again in 2014.

CCTV footage of his 11 July escape showed Guzman pacing his cell several times before heading into the shower area and disappearing at the maximum-security Altiplano jail.

A huge manhunt followed, with flights suspended at the nearby airports. The US government had offered a $5m (£3.2m) reward for information leading to his capture.

Authorities located him several days ago based on reports that he was in the Los Mochis area.

In October, Mexican officials said they had "broken up" and arrested the group responsible for helping him escape.

Guzman's wealth is estimated at $1bn.

Despite being the leader of one of the world's most powerful and violent drug cartels, Guzman was seen by some in Sinaloa - where there are few job opportunities - as a modern-day Robin Hood figure who could offer more security to people than the government.

Following his escape, shopkeepers began selling souvenirs such as baseball caps branded with "El Chapo" (Guzman's nickname, meaning "Shorty").



Source: BBC


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