Drug Lord ‘El Chapo’ Moved to Mexican Prison near U.S. Border

Cartel drug lord El Chapo Guzman has been moved to a Mexican prison near the Texas border.

The convicted drug cartel leader who has pulled off two successful escapes from Mexican prisons over the past few years was transferred with no notice to a Mexican prison in Ciudad Juarez. The city is located directly across the border from El Paso, Texas, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Saturday.

El Chapo’s attorneys have been working on appeals trying to stop the cartel leader’s extradition to the United States, the AP reported.

The Mexican government stated reason for the move at this time is to allow for security enhancements to be made to the Altiplano prison near Mexico City. The government said this move to the Texas border region was not a signal about a possible transfer of the infamous escape artist prisoner to the United States.

In contradiction to what El Chapo’s attorneys are saying now, in March, Breitbart Texas’ Ildefonso Ortiz reported that the attorneys were requesting an expedited extradition to the United States. At that time, the drug lord’s health was allegedly deteriorating. The attorney’s complained the guards would wake Guzman up every four hours to check on him and make sure he was not attempting escape.

Guzman, who is the head of the Sinaloa Cartel, broke out of one of the country’s maximum security prisons in 2015. Ortiz reported it was the drug lords second such escape. The escape was a major embarrassment to the Mexican government already embarrassed by the increasing cartel violence along the Texas border region.

The Mexican government denies it is moving forward with the extradition. The National Security commission said in a statement that his transfer was one of 7,400 other inmates who were being moved as part of a nationwide strategy put in place late last year.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and is a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter@BobPriceBBTX.