Ovidio Guzmán-López: El Chapo's son extradited to the US

A son of the infamous drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán has been extradited to the US on drug trafficking charges, the US Attorney General has said.

Ovidio Guzmán is suspected of leading, along with his brother, the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel his father founded.

Ovidio is also accused of having ordered the murder of a singer who had refused to perform at his wedding.

He was arrested in January in the northern Mexico state of Sinaloa and has been in custody ever since.

"This action is the most recent step in the Justice Department's effort to attack every aspect of the cartel's operations," US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement regarding the extradition.

"The fight against the cartels has involved incredible courage by United States law enforcement and Mexican law enforcement and military servicemembers, many of whom have given their lives in the pursuit of justice."

Mr Garland also thanked the Mexican government for its assistance in getting Ovidio to the US.

There was no immediate reaction to the extradition by the Mexican authorities.

It comes days after the 33-year-old's father's wife, Emma Coronel, was released from jail in the US after being sentenced in November 2021 on drug trafficking charges.