STUBBORN

U.S. Wanted ‘El Chapo’ Before Escape

Requested extradition weeks prior.

Just three weeks before infamous Mexicab drug kingpin Joaquín Guzmán escaped from the country’s top maximum-security prison, the United States had requested his extradition, according to Mexico’s attorney general. Guzmán, also known as El Chapo, faces at least seven indictments in the U.S. for charges including narcotics trafficking and murder. Mexico resisted extradition, however, and planned to prosecute and imprison Guzmán out of a show of sovereignty. Mexico has also remained hesitant to accept “unconditional support” from the U.S. to find Guzmán, including offers of “drones, advance intelligence equipment, and a special task force,” according to The New York Times. Guzmán escaped July 11 through a mile-long tunnel under his cell.