Under cover of darkness, Mexican drug kingpin and chief of the Sinaloa Cartel Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was extradited to the United States late Thursday.
Reuters reports that some Mexican officials stated that El Chapo’s delivery to American soil was a “last-minute gift” to President Barack Obama and perhaps a peace offering to incoming president Donald Trump, though Mexico’s assistant AG Alberto Beltran said that wasn’t the case.
The drug lord whom Sean Penn once called a “simple man from a simple place” landed on Long Island and was transported to Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, which is a maximum security federal facility. Guzman will need the tightest security, after all—he has one hell of a rep for pulling off elaborate and dramatic prison breaks.
And get this: the New York Post even reported that the infamous drug lord was warmly greeted by s throng of female inmates:
Mexico drug kingpin “El Chapo” got a rock star’s welcome at a jail in Manhattan Thursday night — as a host of female prisoners screamed his name as his 13-car motorcade arrived.
The lady jail birds could be heard in the cell block overlooking Pearl Street in downtown Manhattan wildly shouting “Chapo! Chapo!” as the Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was escorted to the facility by the DEA Task Force.
The Mexican drug lord, who was taken from his home country to face charges in the US, arrived at a Long Island airport at about 10 p.m. and was escorted into the city under heavy security.
Guzman’s extradition came after the last bit of legal wrangling by his lawyers was turned down in a federal court.
Guzman will appear in a federal court on Friday, reports the New York Times, to face a vast array of charges based on his decades at the head of a criminal empire—one that may have begun in Mexico but has since extended itself deep into major metropolitan areas in the US, such as New York City and Chicago.
Mexican assistant AG Beltran also told Reuters that America was far from El Chapo’s last stop—he will eventually have to return to his home country to face charges there, as well.
h/t Reuters, New York Times