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Mexico Begins Process of Extraditing Drug Lord Chapo Guzmán

HeadlineJan 11, 2016

The Mexican government has begun the process of extraditing drug lord Joaquín “Chapo” Guzmán to the United States after he was recaptured in Mexico on Friday. Guzman managed to escape through drains and tunnels and steal a car before Mexican forces nabbed him in a raid on his safe house. Five suspects were killed in the operation. Guzmán is now held at the maximum-security Altiplano prison—the same prison he escaped from through a tunnel dug under his cell six months ago. He previously escaped from prison in a laundry cart in 2001. The United States had sought to extradite him before his most recent escape, but Mexico refused. Meanwhile, Mexican authorities say they were helped in their investigation of Guzmán by his communications from hiding—including with actor Sean Penn. In an interview published by Rolling Stone, Penn said he spent seven hours with Guzmán. In this excerpt, Guzmán responds to a question about the harms caused by drugs.

Chapo Guzmán: “Well, it’s a reality that drugs destroy. Unfortunately, as I said, where I grew up, there was no other way, and there still isn’t a way to survive, no way to work in our economy to be able to make a living.”

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