Mexico extradites Sinaloa Cartel member 'El Chuy Raúl' to U.S.

Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Mexico's attorney general on Thursday said Jesús "El Chuy Raúl" Beltrán León, a Sinaloa Cartel member accused of working as the former bodyguard of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán's son, has been extradited to the United States.

Beltrán León is facing charges related to drug trafficking, including money laundering, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

"The event was held at the International Airport of Mexico City, where elements of the Federal Ministerial Police handed over the defendant to U.S. Marshals agents," the attorney general's office said in a statement.

Beltrán León is also accused of serving as a bodyguard and lieutenant for Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, one of Guzman's sons.

Guzman, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, recently pleaded not guilty to numerous criminal charges in New York over his role in establishing drug trafficking's most power cartel. He was extradited from Mexico to the United States last Thursday to the surprise of some law enforcement agencies, despite Mexican National Security Commissioner Renato Sales in October saying Mexico hoped to extradite the drug lord "in January or February."

Beltrán León was "investigated for his probable responsibility in the introduction, from Mexican territory, of large quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana to several cities of the United States of America, as well as to organize, direct, administer and monitor the drug trafficking and money laundering activities of a criminal group operating in our country," the attorney general's statement added.