ABC "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" - Transcript: Drug Cartels
Interview
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RADDATZ: And that is quite a question. Pierre, thank you. And stay right there. We'll be back to you in a moment.
We're joined now by the chairman of the House homeland security committee Michael McCaul.
Congressman McCaul, can you please tell us the enormity of this arrest. What does it really mean to the average American.
MCCAUL: This is a significant victory for both Mexico and the United States. This is the world's most notorious drug lord that got taken down. He's really the Godfather, if you will, of the cartels that has brought -- smuggled so many drugs into the United States, killed so many people in Mexico and around the world and to bring him to justice, finally, after so many decades is a great victory.
And I do want to take a chance to applaud the ICE agents, the DEA agents who worked this case and also the Mexican authorities who have stepped up to the plate and showed great cooperation with the United States make this happen.
This is a huge event, it's sort of like, you know, again the Godfather, the Al Capone of Chicago. In Chicago, he's the number one enemy. And it would be similar to Pablo Escobar in Colombia being taken down, after which the drug cartels began to unravel.
RADDATZ: Well, given what you've said, Chairman McCaul, the Mexican ambassador to the U.S. said that he thinks it's important that Guzman first be tried in Mexico. Would you like to see him extradited to the United States?
MCCAUL: I would. I think the normal sequence is the Mexico being a sovereign nation has the first prosecution.
However, there's a history here. He escaped from a prison in 2001. There is corruption in that country. And I would ask that the Mexicans consider extraditing him to the United States where he will be put in a supermax prison under tight security where he cannot escape and be brought to justice with a life imprisonment sentence.
I think that would be the best course for not only Mexico, but also the United States in ensuring that what happened in 2001 does not happen again.
RADDATZ: And what's the likelihood of that happening. And I can see why you would feel that way, because he escaped from prison 13 years ago. What's the likelihood that they would allow him to come up here in a supermax prison?
MCCAUL: Well, I think it depends on how much pressure our State Department, quite honestly, and our administration puts on the current administration to do this. You know, I think their preference, again, would be to try him first in the United States. But the track record is not good with this individual.
This is an exceptional case, you know, this is the largest, biggest drug lord we've ever seen in the world. And therefore I think extradition to the United States, where there were multiple indictments in multiple cities -- San Diego, New York, in Texas and Chicago -- where we could deal with him in a secure, safe way and bring him to Justice.
And one final point I think it's important to make, there are early criticisms on this administration in Mexico that they were going to be soft on the cartels. And I think what has happened here is very significant in terms of the cooperation with Mexico. President Pena Nieto has demonstrated that he is tough on these cartels. He brought out the Los Zetas leader who is arguably the most lethal cartel and now the biggest fish ever, and that is El Chapo Guzman.
RADDATZ: OK, thank you very much Chairman McCaul. We appreciate you joining us.
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