Nicole Hong reports for the WSJ:
Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the Mexican drug lord who evaded U.S. authorities for years and built a billion-dollar narcotics empire, is expected to make his first appearance in a U.S. courtroom on Friday.
Mr. Guzmán, who successfully escaped twice from maximum-security prisons in Mexico, was extradited to the U.S. late Thursday. His arrival came as a surprise to many, even to U.S. officials, who said Friday that they didn't know he was coming until the day of the extradition.* * *
Mr. Guzmán is set to face trial in Brooklyn federal court, where a 17-count indictment accuses him of drug trafficking, money laundering and murder conspiracy. If he is convicted on the first count alone of "continuing criminal enterprise," he faces mandatory life imprisonment.* * *The Brooklyn U.S. attorney's office was chosen by the U.S. Justice Department to try Mr. Guzmán first, after several other offices -- including Manhattan and Chicago -- vied for the opportunity. Among the deciding factors was which office had the most widespread charges and the strongest witnesses.
The U.S. attorney's office in Miami and the narcotics section of the Justice Department will help prosecute the case.
U.S. officials, who call Mr. Guzmán the most notorious drug trafficker in the world, have seized 200 metric tons, or more than 440,000 pounds, of cocaine allegedly linked to Mr. Guzmán and the Sinaloa cartel.
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