El Chapo could be joined in his US prison by another cartel leader whose drug operation has reportedly been hit by a wave of extraditions, according to the The Daily Star, which broke the news on Saturday, citing a pundit with knowledge of the matter.
“I expect extraditions will continue if there is another target [...] Whether it is the head of the Sinaloa Cartel, the Tijuana syndicate, or Jalisco New Generation [...] If somebody like that was captured – who is responsible for a lot of violence in Mexico and getting drugs across the border – I expect the US would push for extradition”, Duncan Wood, director of the Wilson Centre’s Mexico Institute said, cited by UK-based media.
After being sentenced to life in prison, Shorty was transferred to a US penitentiary administration Maximum Security Facility in Florence, Colorado. The leadership of the notorious Mexican gang dubbed the Sinaloa cartel reportedly fell to El Chapo's ex-partner, Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, who may face a similar fate. If El Mayo is arrested and extradited, he will be kept in the same facility, the pundit claims, according to The Daily Star.
“It’s almost certain that if he was convicted then he would be sent to a maximum-security prison [...] The US has a number of these facilities, I think they’d keep them separated [...] Although maybe it’s possible that they could be, it’s a fairly big facility – it’s an intriguing possibility”, Wood said, cited by The Daily Star.
According to an earlier media report, citing El Chapo's lawyer Mariel Colon, the Mexican drug lord is currently in poor health and gradually losing his eyesight, adding that El Chapo is increasingly isolated as no one speaks Spanish in the US prison where he is being kept.
The US court convicted El Chapo on 10 counts, including drug trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy. A US federal judge in July sentenced the notorious Mexican drug kingpin to life in prison.
El Chapo reportedly escaped prison twice in Mexico before being extradited to the US.
The violent cartel is an active participant in ruthless drug wars for amassed criminal assets, influence and territory.