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Mexican drug lord put in immigration custody for deportation
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In this Jan. 8, 2016 file photo, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is made to face the press as he is escorted to a helicopter in handcuffs by Mexican soldiers and marines at a federal hangar in Mexico City, Mexico. After two of Guzman's attorneys filed an appeal against the extradition request, a third lawyer, Jose Refugio Rodriguez, disavowed it on May 28, 2016. Rodriguez said that the two lawyers who filed it are not part of the team working on the extradition case. That team is still considering the government's arguments and plans an appeal in the coming weeks that "El Chapo" will approve. (Associated Press/Marco Ugarte)
T
he U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said Friday that Mexican drug lord Hector "El Guero" Palma has been transferred to immigration custody pending his deportation to Mexico.
The agency said in a statement that Palma was transferred from a U.S. prison Friday, one day ahead of his previously scheduled release date. It said "Palma will remain in ICE detention while the agency makes arrangements to carry out his removal to Mexico."
Local media have reported that Palma will be handed over next week at the Tijuana border crossing. But ICE said it won't confirm the circumstances of the handover "for security and safety reasons," adding, "The agency will only confirm that an individual has been removed once the action has been successfully completed. "
It is unclear if there are still any charges pending against Palma in Mexico. Attorney General Arely Gomez has said that prosecutors are looking through files for any remaining criminal cases. She said that in some cases the statute of limitations has expired.
Palma was known as an extremely violent drug trafficker and co-founder of the Sinaloa drug cartel.
He was arrested June 23, 1995, in western Mexico. He was held in Mexican prisons while undergoing trial.
He was extradited to the United States in 2007 and was sentenced to 16 years for transporting 50 kilograms of cocaine, but got time off for the years he spent in a Mexican prison awaiting extradition. (ags)
