US judge rejects effort to dismiss ‘El Chapo’ indictment

A federal judge on Friday rejected accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s request to dismiss his indictment, Reuters reported. 

Guzman’s lawyer argued that Mexican authorities had initially only agreed to extradite the accused drug kingpin to California or Texas – far from the Brooklyn courtroom that Guzman has found himself in.

But U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan rejected that argument, saying that the Mexican government had not objected to the indictment.

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“Here, there is no protest or objection by Mexico, nor is there an express provision in the extradition treaty between the United States and Mexico,” he wrote. “Therefore, defendant’s motion to dismiss the indictment based on an alleged Rule of Specialty violation is denied.”

Guzman, the former leader of the Mexican crime syndicate called the Sinaloa Cartel, is accused of operating a major drug trafficking ring. He was arrested in 2016 and extradited to the U.S. earlier this year.

Guzman faces life in prison if convicted.