Mexico refuses to extradite drug lord El Chapo's son to US

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Street scene in Sinaloa, Mexico after the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán

Photo: JUAN CARLOS CRUZ / AFP

A federal judge in Mexico City on Friday halted Ovidio Guzmán's extradition to the United States.

At the request of the 32-year-old's lawyers, a federal judge ruled that all relevant proceedings should be discontinued until further notice.

He is the son of imprisoned Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán.

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard had previously announced that Guzmán would at least not be handed over to the United States immediately.

Guzmán's father was one of the most powerful drug dealers in the world and is serving a life sentence in the United States.

Ovidio Guzmán was arrested on Thursday in Culiacan, Sinaloa state.

Gang members then blocked numerous streets with burning cars and fought fiercely with police and armed forces.

According to the Ministry of Defense, 29 people died in the shooting.

Guzmán was taken to the maximum-security Altiplano prison west of Mexico City.

The US had requested Guzman's extradition for drug trafficking.

After his father's arrest in 2014, Ovidio Guzmán took over part of the Sinaloa cartel.

He was considered one of the most important dealers in the drug fentanyl in Mexico.

The US State Department put a $5 million bounty on his head.

A Washington court indicted Guzmán in 2018 for drug smuggling.

mgo/dpa