GUATEMALA CITY, Aug. 6 (Reuters) - A Guatemalan court
decided on Monday to extradite a 72-year-old suspected drug
trafficker to the United States because of his alleged ties to
Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel.
Waldemar Lorenzana, who has said he is innocent, was
arrested last year while driving in the town of El Jicaro, 40
miles northeast of Guatemala City.
Authorities accuse Lorenzana of running a large cocaine
smuggling racket for the Sinaloa Cartel, pushing drug shipments
from Colombia to the United States.
The U.S. Treasury Department has placed Lorenzana and his
three sons Eliu, Haroldo and Waldemar, on a list of Central
American drug kingpins and a U.S. district court in New York has
requested his extradition on drug trafficking charges.
Lorenzana's youngest son Eliu was arrested last year and in
February a Guatemalan court issued an extradition order for the
40-year-old suspected drug trafficker to face similar charges in
the United States.
The elder Lorenzana's other sons are still at large and the
U.S. government has offered a $200,000 reward for information
leading to their arrests.
Guatemalan President Otto Perez must ratify the extradition
order before a date is set to send Lorenzana to the U.S. to face
charges.
(Reporting by Michael McDonald)