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Burning truck in the streets of Culiacan: violence after the arrest (photo taken on January 5)
Photo: Martin Urista / picture alliance/dpa/AP
The United States has reportedly demanded the extradition of Ovidio Guzmán, the son of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, from Mexico.
The background is that he is to be tried in a US court.
The US Embassy in Mexico City has submitted an extradition request for 32-year-old Ovidio Guzmán to the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Attorney General's Office, a Mexican government official, who declined to be named, said, according to AFP.
Cartel taken over by father?
US authorities and experts believe that Ovidio Guzmán and his three brothers took command of the Sinaloa drug cartel after their father was arrested in 2016.
The United States has offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to Ovidio Guzmán's arrest.
He was finally caught in Culiacan, the capital of the state of Sinaloa, in early January.
Then there were violent riots.
Gang members blocked numerous roads with burning cars and engaged in fierce battles with police and armed forces.
According to the Defense Ministry, 29 people died in the shooting.
Immediately after his arrest, Ovidio Guzmán obtained a court order that prevented his immediate extradition to the United States.
A judge gave the US authorities until March 5 to file an extradition request.
"El Chapo" in custody in the United States
The US accuses El Chapo's son of overseeing nearly a dozen laboratories producing the synthetic drug methamphetamine in Sinaloa state and being involved in the trafficking of cocaine and marijuana.
In addition, he is said to have commissioned several murders.
For their part, the Mexican authorities are investigating Ovidio Guzmán for his involvement in organized crime and other crimes.
Ovidio Guzmán's father, the founder of the Sinaloa cartel, was at one time one of the most wanted criminals in the world.
In 2019, "El Chapo" was sentenced to life imprisonment by a New York court for drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons offenses, among other things.
The 65-year-old is now in prison in the United States.
bbr/AFP/Reuters