The United States asks Mexico for the extradition of Ovidio Guzmán López, son of 'El Chapo'

The United States Government presented the formal request to Mexico to extradite Ovidio Guzmán, one of the sons of drug trafficker Joaquín Guzmán Loera,

, federal sources confirmed to Telemundo News.

Ovidio Guzmán was detained by the Mexican Navy almost two months ago during an operation on the outskirts of Culiacán, Sinaloa.

It was the second attempt by the Mexican authorities to capture him.

The first in October 2019 failed miserably, after a bloody operation that ended with the release of the capo.

El Raton, as the son of

is also known

, has been held in the Altiplano maximum security prison since his arrest in Sinaloa on January 5.

["El Rey" Zambada declares again and says that he has no evidence of bribing García Luna]

Ovidio Guzmán López during his brief detention by the Mexican military in Culiacán, Sinaloa, on October 17, 2019.AP

His legal team has obtained at least three injunctions in Mexican courts to prevent him from being immediately extradited.

In this way, the kingpin's lawyers have ensured that the US authorities are obliged to exhaust all the instances contemplated in the international treaties that regulate the extradition process.

The petition was sent to the Attorney General's Office (FGR), days before the March 5 deadline set by a Mexican judge for the United States to submit the petition to extradite Ovidio.

They reveal how 'El Chapo' Guzmán found out about his son's arrest

Jan 23, 202300:39

Washington seeks to try Ovidio for the crime of criminal association to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana. 

The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the main criminal organizations that traffics synthetic drugs to the United States, including methamphetamine and fentanyl, which they manufacture in Mexican territory with precursor chemicals imported from China.

[Women are beaten in the offices of the Public Ministry of Mexico]

More than 106,000 Americans died of overdoses in 2021 alone, mostly from fentanyl, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Treasury Department recently announced sanctions against six members of a ring in Mexico accused of shipping massive amounts of a substance used to manufacture fentanyl and methamphetamine.