Delivery of 'El Chapo' to the U.S.; The notorious Mexican drug trafficker appears in a New York court

Reports indicate that U.S. drug enforcement officials announced on Thursday that Mexico has handed over Joaquín Guzmán, known as El Chapo, one of the largest drug traffickers in Mexico, to the United States. According to the Associated Press, the plane carrying El Chapo landed at New York airport on Thursday. El Chapo had previously managed to escape from Mexico's supermax prisons twice. According to the report, Guzmán is the leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico, which is referred to as one of the largest drug trafficking organizations in the world. A police official, who requested anonymity, told the Associated Press that El Chapo would spend the night in a New York prison and would appear in a federal court in Brooklyn on Friday. A Mexican Foreign Ministry official stated that Joaquín Guzmán was handed over to U.S. officials on Thursday, coinciding with the last day of Barack Obama's presidency and one day before Donald Trump's administration began. A U.S. drug enforcement official also mentioned that early Thursday, Joaquín Guzmán was handed over to drug enforcement officials at a border point near the city of El Paso in Texas and was then flown to New York. Joaquín Guzmán, who is over 50 years old, had escaped from prison in 2001 but was re-arrested after a decade. He escaped from prison again in 2015. El Chapo was born in Sinaloa and is said to have solidified his position in the bloody battles with other drug cartels in Mexico during the 1990s. The U.S. had previously requested the extradition of El Chapo. According to U.S. officials, the El Chapo cartel smuggled 200 tons of cocaine into the United States between 1990 and 2008. It is also reported that this cartel has trafficked heroin and other drugs into the country. In this context, Mexico set millions of dollars in rewards for finding the fugitive criminal. 'La Tuta,' one of the most important leaders of Mexican drug cartels, was arrested. 'El Chapo' is referred to as the 'biggest' drug trafficker.