An alleged member of the Zetas drug organization in Guatemala has been extradited to the United States.

Jairo Orellana Morales was handed over to agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration under heavy security Friday in Guatemala City. 

Court records indicate he was scheduled to be arraigned in US federal court in Washington later Friday.

Jairo Orellana Morales was handed over to agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration under heavy security Friday in Guatemala

Jairo Orellana Morales was handed over to agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration under heavy security Friday in Guatemala

Jairo Orellana Morales Jairo Orellana Morales

Orellana, 41, was arrested in May 2014 after a shootout with federal forces in eastern Guatemala

Orellana is charged with one count of intending to manufacture or distribute cocaine for import into the United States and a firearms charge

Orellana is charged with one count of intending to manufacture or distribute cocaine for import into the United States and a firearms charge

Guatemalan deputy interior minister Elmer Sosa confirmed the extradition.

Orellana, 41, was arrested in May 2014 after a shootout with federal forces in eastern Guatemala. 

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share 35 shares Orellana's handover was done almost two weeks to the day that El Chapo escaped from his cell in a maximum security prison in Mexico

Orellana's handover was done almost two weeks to the day that El Chapo escaped from his cell in a maximum security prison in Mexico

The US government had imposed financial sanctions on Orellana in 2013 under the Kingpin Act, describing him as a violent drug trafficker who helped the Mexican Zetas cartel move cocaine through Guatemala.

Orellana is charged with one count of intending to manufacture or distribute cocaine for import into the United States and a firearms charge, which is punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Eliu Lorenzana-Cordon and his father Waldemar Lorenzana-Cordon were also extradited last year and are awaiting trial.

Orellana's handover was done under incredibly tight security almost two weeks to the day that Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán escaped from his cell in a maximum security prison in Mexico.

Members of his Sineola cartel spent a year digging a tunnel almost a mile long that lead to the floor under El Chapo's cell shower, and in surveillance video he can be seen casually getting out of his bed and disappearing into the opening shortly before 9pm on July 11. 

He is still on the run, and his escape has angered many in the US government who wanted him extradited believing he would escape from prison in mexico, as he had done so before. 

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWKAcoOScGptZ3eqrrWxzJqjmmWVrcGzrcOiq56rXZa5rbHGnptmnKKqtG7A0Zqdn6GToLKzebSMZaGsnaE%3D