Dutchman Joran van der Sloot, the main suspect in the disappearance of a young American woman in Aruba in 2005, was extradited Thursday from Peru to the United States, Peruvian police said. The 35-year-old man was driven from a Lima prison to El Callao military airport, near the capital, in a black van. He was then handed over to members of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
'Temporary transfer'
"He is in perfect condition, he is calm, serene, it is a temporary transfer to be tried in the United States," said the head of Interpol Peru, Colonel Carlos Lopez, who handed the detainee over to the FBI. "As soon as the legal proceedings in the United States are completed, he will have to return to Peru to serve his sentence," he added. Joran Van der Sloot is being prosecuted in the United States for extortion and fraud against Elizabeth Ann Holloway, mother of the young Natalee Holloway, who disappeared in 2005 on the Caribbean island of Aruba. He is also the main suspect in the disappearance of the 18-year-old American girl.
He was sentenced in 2013 to 28 years in prison by a Lima court for killing in 2010 with "cruelty and ferocity" Stephany Flores, a 21-year-old Peruvian girl met in a casino. In May, the Peruvian judiciary gave the green light to the extradition to the United States of Joran Van der Sloot. The decision marked a reversal of what Peru had indicated in 2014, when it said it would extradite her only once he had served his 28-year sentence in 2038 for the murder of the Peruvian girl.
