
Drug lord Hector “El Guero” Palma, one of the founders of the Sinaloa cartel, returned to Mexico on Wednesday after serving almost a decade in a US prison.
US authorities handed over Palma in Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, according to a Mexican federal official who requested anonymity due to a lack of authorization to speak publicly on the matter. The US embassy in Mexico confirmed Palma’s transfer in a statement.
Palma was arrested in June 1995 in western Mexico and later extradited to the US where he pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking charges and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The US embassy said Palma received early release for good behaviour.
Palma had been released from federal prison in California on Friday and put into the custody of US immigration officials.