Fallen drug king El Chapo’s head of security and top hitman is to be extradited to the USA after losing his final legal battle to stay in Mexico.
Jorge Ivan Gastelum Avila – nicknamed ‘El Cholo’ – was the cocaine cartel head’s most loyal henchman and assassin.
He was arrested at the same as El Chapo in 2016 and has been fighting a seven-year legal battle to stay out of America.
Now Mexican judges have ruled that any legal protection shielding him from extradition should be removed.
The ruling – issued by the fourth collegiate court in criminal matters of the second circuit – means El Cholo can now be sent to the US to face justice there.
The ruthless gangster will face charges in a New York court, including criminal association in order to distribute cocaine and cannabis in different parts of the US.
American investigators say Cholo controlled drug trafficking in Guamuchil, in Sinaloa State, and commanded an armed group of around 200 men.
They say he also provided security for El Chapo, who is currently serving a life sentence in the US.
The same investigation found that Cholo attacked rival criminal organisations, as well as Mexican law enforcement, in order to carry out his boss’s orders.
He was arrested along with El Chapo on 8th January 2016 on the Los Mochis-Navojoa highway.