LA TIMES
Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Patrick J. McDonnell
Bringing Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquin “El
Chapo” Guzman to American soil could take years, but once the process
starts, it will probably be lightning quick and as scripted as it has
been for other extradited drug lords, terrorists and fugitives.
It took eight years to extradite radical London cleric Abu Hamza Masri and four other terrorism suspects to the U.S. in 2012.
It took nine years to extradite Tijuana drug lord Benjamin Arellano Felix to California in 2011, where he pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to launder money and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
And Vincent Legrend Walters, a San Diego drug trafficking and murder suspect who was on the U.S. Marshals Service's 15 most-wanted list, was caught four years ago in Cancun, Mexico, and is still awaiting extradition.
“A lot of times these things just don’t happen as fluidly and timely as you would expect,” said William Sorukas, recently retired chief of international investigations for the Marshals Service.
Now that Mexico has cleared the way for Guzman's extradition -- though he has appeals that could slow the process by months, even years -- the Justice Department is probably discussing how he will be moved, where he will be locked up, where he should be prosecuted and what jurisdiction has the most robust case, Sorukas said.
It took eight years to extradite radical London cleric Abu Hamza Masri and four other terrorism suspects to the U.S. in 2012.
It took nine years to extradite Tijuana drug lord Benjamin Arellano Felix to California in 2011, where he pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to launder money and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
And Vincent Legrend Walters, a San Diego drug trafficking and murder suspect who was on the U.S. Marshals Service's 15 most-wanted list, was caught four years ago in Cancun, Mexico, and is still awaiting extradition.
“A lot of times these things just don’t happen as fluidly and timely as you would expect,” said William Sorukas, recently retired chief of international investigations for the Marshals Service.
Now that Mexico has cleared the way for Guzman's extradition -- though he has appeals that could slow the process by months, even years -- the Justice Department is probably discussing how he will be moved, where he will be locked up, where he should be prosecuted and what jurisdiction has the most robust case, Sorukas said.
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