Sinaloa cartel boss positively identified, Mexican investigators say

Mexico City, Feb 26 (EFE).- DNA analysis, facial measurements and fingerprints confirm that the man arrested over the weekend in the Pacific resort city of Mazatlan is Sinaloa drug cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" (Shorty) Guzman, investigators said.

The identity of the Sinaloa cartel leader was "determined positively" after conducting "scientific and technical (tests) in the areas of genetics, physical identification and forensic fingerprint analysis," lead investigator Sara Monica Medina said in a press conference.

A DNA sample was obtained from Guzman's mouth and it matched the genetic profile of close relatives, Medina said Tuesday.

Investigators also examined photographs of the drug lord's facial features, using an anthropological method of comparing measurements and obtaining a positive result, the investigator said.

"We took anatomical measurements from the mugshots that we had from when he first entered prison" in the 1990s and the photographs "taken currently," Medina said.

"You are always going to get constant measurement indexes" even if the subject had some type of plastic surgery, the investigator said.

A court in Mexico state, meanwhile, began the proceedings against Guzman on Tuesday, ruling that he can be tried on criminal conspiracy charges.

The Mexican government is evaluating its options ahead of a likely U.S. extradition request for the drug lord.

The 56-year-old Guzman, the world's most notorious and powerful drug lord, was captured by the security forces in Mazatlan on Saturday without any shots being fired.

Emma Coronel, a former Miss Sinaloa who married Guzman in 2007, was in the apartment raided by marines, officials said.

The drug lord is being held at the Almoloya de Juarez prison in Mexico state, which surrounds the Federal District and forms part of the Mexico City metropolitan area.

Guzman was arrested in 1993 in Guatemala and sent back to Mexico, where he was convicted of bribery.

He escaped from the Puente Grande penitentiary in the western Mexican state of Jalisco on Jan. 19, 2001, pulling off the Hollywood-style jailbreak by hiding in a cart full of dirty laundry in front of guards.

The drug lord will likely face additional criminal conspiracy, drug, firearms and money laundering charges in Mexico, officials said.

The office of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta Lynch said Sunday that it planned to request Guzman's extradition from Mexico.

Guzman faces charges in at least three U.S. federal judicial districts for criminal conspiracy, money laundering and conspiracy to smuggle cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine into the United States.