Ovidio Guzmán López, arrested on Thursday of last week by elements of the Army and the National Guard, is just a famous citizen and not a criminal in Mexico. If he is imprisoned in the maximum security prison of the Altiplano, it is because the United States requested his provisional arrest for extradition purposes, since The Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) has no accusation against him.
The son of “El Chapo” Guzmán, who was arrested in October 2019 and released immediately after on the orders of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has no criminal charges in our country, despite the fact that the US authorities point to him as one of the most important traffickers of fentanyl, a narcotic that – in the last year alone – has caused the death of more than 100,000 people in the United States.
In Mexico, although the FGR had 38 months to open an investigation folder and accuse him -at least- of organized crime, Guzmán López has a clean record.
It does not matter that under his orders the so-called “Cualiacanazo” has been given, a name by which the tragic events that on October 17, 2019 are known forced the Mexican state to concede to the Sinaloa cartel, and release him, because -according to the president- elements of that criminal group were preparing to extend the attacks to the civilian population of Culiacán.
In fact, he has not even been charged with carrying weapons for the exclusive use of the Army that they found him in flagrante last week, according to Defense Secretary Luis Crescencio Sandoval.
Thus, for the authorities of our country, this criminal character has not committed any crime in national territory, so his current detention is only motivated by the request made by the United States government, where a federal court in Washington, DC accuses him of conspiring to import and distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, and 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana.
In fact, Ovidio Guzmán, 32, was already informed by a District judge that must remain in pretrial detention for at least 60 days, period that the neighboring country has to submit to Mexico the formal request for extradition for drug trafficking charges. If said official request does not arrive within that period, the judge would have to release him.
On Friday afternoon, at the Federal Criminal Justice Center of the Altiplano maximum security prison, in the State of Mexico, the scion of “El Chapo” Guzmán was notified by the control judge Gregorio Salazar Hernandez of the reasons for his provisional detention: This is only for extradition purposes, and not because he is being persecuted in Mexico for any crime.
At that hearing, the togado said that the request for the provisional arrest of Guzmán López was presented by the US Embassy in Mexico on September 19, 2019.
Since then, it did not occur to the FGR to start any investigation file against him, so his legal situation is reduced to being detained because the United States so requests. In that country, who is nicknamed “El Ratón”, he has been designated as a drug trafficker since 2012.
Judge Salazar Hernández also ordered that the defendant be given medical attention, and the drugs that his lawyers said he needed, because he recently had stomach surgery, in addition to having depression and anxiety.
He is not a criminal, but they fear his escape
Similarly, the judge decided to fine the director of the Altiplano prison, Nora Angélica Balderrama Cano, and the Commissioner of the Decentralized Administrative Body for Prevention and Social Rehabilitation, Antonio Hazael Ruíz Ortega, 19,244 pesos, because they took more than two hours to bring Ovidio Guzmán to the audience.
These officials will also have to be investigated by the Attorney General’s Office for having committed various crimes against the administration of justice with this delay, thundered annoyed Judge Gregorio Salazar Hernández.
Because there is fear of a possible escape or rescue attempt, The prison authorities argued that, for security reasons, it was not convenient for Guzmán López to go to the hearing room, so they proposed that the procedure be carried out by videoconference.
The judge said no to this option, and even so the defendant’s delay continued, for which reason Gregorio Salazar Hernández announced that he would order the administrative arrest of Balderrama Cano and Ruíz Ortega. It was not until this urgent measure was received that, heavily guarded by elements of the National Guard, Ovidio Guzmán López appeared in the presence of the togado.
Two years for his possible extradition
The process for your transfer to the United States will not be easy or fast. The authorities of that nation will have to wait patiently for the slow rulings of the Mexican justice system, in order to be able to try the son of “El Chapo” Guzmán for drug trafficking in the capital of that country.
In accordance with the Extradition Treaty between Mexico and the American Union, and the law on the matter, the request must be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) within the next 60 days. This request is first analyzed by this unit in order to preliminarily determine its origin.
After this procedure, if the Foreign Ministry of our country considers the extradition request appropriate, the file will be sent to the Attorney General of the Republic so that, in turn, the federal Public Ministry asks a District judge for his legal opinion that would allow the transfer of the defendant to the United States.
In this procedure in which the Chancellery and the FGR intervene there is no specific term, everything depends on the times of both dependencies.
After the FGR sends the extradition file to a District judge, he must order a hearing in which Ovidio Guzmán will be informed of the formal request. It is in this phase when the detainee has up to three days to oppose exceptions to their shipment to the country that requests it, plus another 20 days to prove that opposition.
According to articles 27 and 29 of the International Extradition Law, after that period, the judge has five days to inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of his legal opinion regarding the proceedings and evidence. That is, there must be a pronouncement on the origin and legality of the extradition in that jurisdictional instance.
Once this occurs, within a period of 20 days, the Mexican Foreign Ministry is the one that has to decide, definitively, whether or not extradition is granted. Once the determination of the SRE is issued, Ovidio Guzmán has the right to promote an Amparo Trial against it. This demand is first resolved in a District Court, an instance that usually suspends the extradition procedure until the final sentence is issued.
With the latter, if what was determined by the Foreign Ministry to extradite him is ratified, Guzmán López’s defense can file an Appeal for Review, which must be substantiated by a Collegiate Court.
After the judgment of the Amparo under Review by said Court, there is no longer any other resource that can be accessed to avoid extradition, so the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must deliver the extraditable to the United States.
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surya palaces Journalist and lawyer, specialist in legal analysis and human rights. She has been a reporter, radio host and editor.