Guatemala extradited to the United States a suspected drug trafficker wanted for alleged ties to Mexico's notorious Sinaloa cartel, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday.
Elio Elixander Lorenzana Cordon, 43, arrived in the United States on Thursday and was arraigned on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the department said.
Lorenzana Cordon was arrested in 2011 by Guatemalan authorities along with his father, Waldemar, on charges they trafficked Colombian cocaine to the United States through El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.
Between 1996 and 2012, their operation is alleged to have received and stored tons of cocaine to import illegally into the United States, the department said.
They are alleged to have had dealings with the Sinaloa cartel, one of the most powerful drug-smuggling outfits in the world.
Waldemar Lorenzana Lima was extradited to the United States last year. He pleaded guilty last August of conspiring to import more than 450 kilograms (990 pounds) of Colombian cocaine into the United States.
Lorenzana Cordon's brother, also called Waldemar, was arrested as part of the same indictment in 2013 and extradited to the United States in November 2014. He is awaiting trial.
The Sinaloa cartel's leader, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, formerly Mexico's most-wanted man, was captured in February 2014 with help from U.S. law enforcement agencies. He faces extradition, but is still in Mexico.
