American officials requested the extradition of Joaquín “ El Chapo ” Guzmán Loera two weeks before his well-planned escape from a Mexican prison, according to testimony delivered by that country’s Attorney General, Arely Gómez González . The U.S. wanted to charge the kingpin for crimes committed in there. Mexico wanted to keep the cartel leader in their own jails. Guzmán was behind bars a mere 16 months behind bars before he escaped. He faced lifetime imprisonment after leading the notorious Sinaloa cartel. The request was made on June 25 by US diplomats, Mexican officials told Reuters .
"If he does not get extradited, then he will be allowed to escape within a period of time [....] If he is, in fact, incarcerated, until he gets extradited to the United States, it will be business as usual," former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Phil Jordan had told CNN in February 2014, when Guzmán was arrested.
According to follow-up interview with Jordan earlier this week , the agent believes that the escape was an inside job, something that wouldn’t have happened if the narco had been in a U.S. jail. The DEA has had a strained relationship with the Mexican military and other elements fighting drug cartels. One problem is corruption in the rank and file. Another are human rights violations, as the Latin Times reported earlier this year .
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