U.S. asked Mexico to extradite drug lord
WASHINGTON – Just weeks before Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman sneaked out of a maximum security prison in Mexico, the U.S. government had requested formally that the drug kingpin be sent to the United States to stand trial on a variety of drug trafficking and conspiracy charges, the Justice Department said on Friday.
The office of Mexico Attorney General Arely Gomez issued a statement late Thursday saying she told a congressional committee in that country that the extradition request was sent June 25.
Guzman vanished from the prison through a tunnel in the shower floor of his cell on July 11.
Gomez’s office said she issued instructions to review the request and submit it to courts for consideration.
Tenn. suspect failed background check
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – An Ohio company says the man who gunned down four Marines in Tennessee failed a background check in May 2013.
Todd Schneider, a spokesman for FirstEnergy Corp., says Muhammad Abdulazeez was conditionally hired as an engineer at a nuclear plant about 35 miles northeast of Cleveland. He spent 10 days there before he was let go because he failed a background check.
He would not say why Abdulazeez didn’t pass the screening process. Abdulazeez underwent general training on company procedures, but his access was limited during his brief employment.
Schneider says he worked in an administrative building and was never allowed in the protected area of the plant near the reactor.
Associated Press
