El Chapo May Be Extradited From Mexico to Brooklyn

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — It’s the Olympic host city election of extradition hearings.

Now that he’s been captured by Mexican authorities, seven major U.S. cities are reportedly vying to host the federal trial of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, head of Mexico’s ruthless Sinaloa Cartel, widely recognized as the most-wanted drug kingpin on Earth.

According to Yahoo News, indictments against Guzman have been filed in U.S. district courts in Chicago, Brooklyn, Manhattan, San Diego, Miami, New Hampshire and El Paso.

However, former U.S. officials and experts who spoke with Yahoo agreed the top contenders are the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Chicago (the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division) and Brooklyn (the Eastern District of New York).

Guzman’s extradition to the U.S. likely won’t happen for more than a year, if it happens at all.

Given he does see his day in U.S. court, though, the DOJ’s city selection process “will boil down to which jurisdiction has the best case and the best evidence,” Theresa Van Vliet, formerly of the DOJ, told the news site.

Both cities filed their initial indictments against Guzman in 2009, and have updated them with “superseding indictments” in the time since.

Brooklyn’s superseding indictment — attached below — accuses Guzman of trafficking nearly 550 tons of cocaine across international borders, and specifically bringing around five tons into the Eastern District of New York. The indictment also includes charges relating to cartel violence. Brooklyn prosecutors seek at least $14 billion.

Chicago’s superseding indictment — also attached below — is less specific on quantities. But it does have a bunch of gritty details about cartel members’ alleged drug storage and transportation methods on U.S. soil, as well as their activity “obtaining guns and other weapons; bribing corrupt public officials; engaging in violence and threats of violence, including kidnapping; and intimidating with threats of violence... .” Chicago prosecutors seek at least $2 billion.

The argument for Chicago, according to Yahoo News:

Chicago, which in 2013 dubbed Guzman its first Public Enemy No.1 since Al Capone, has a sweeping 2009 indictment against him, including several counts of conspiring to smuggle and distribute drugs, as well as money laundering charge.

Prosecutors there have secured the cooperation of two strong witnesses, twin brothers Pedro and Margarito Flores, convicted drug traffickers who secretly taped Guzman.

Brooklyn’s indictment against Guzman, on the other hand, is reportedly close to the heart of U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, head of the DOJ.

The Brooklyn-based U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, has a track record of trying high profile criminals and could be helped by its proximity to Washington D.C., legal sources said.

Lynch was formerly U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, where she oversaw the case for several years, including filing a superseding indictment to a 2009 case against Guzman.

Spokespeople for both the Northern District of Illinois and the Eastern District of New York told Patch they couldn’t comment on the race to host El Chapo.

We’ve included both Brooklyn and Chicago’s indictments below. Tell us what you think: Who’s got a better chance of winning the bid?

First, we’ve got the 49-page Brooklyn indictment, updated in Sept. 2014.

And here’s the 26-page Chicago indictment, updated less than a year ago in April 2015.