U.S. grants Peru's extradition of former president Alejandro Toledo

The South American country has accused him of receiving tens of millions of dollars in bribes from Brazilian company Odebrecht in exchange for public contracts.

The State Department authorized Tuesday the extradition of former president Alejandro Toledo to Peru, as requested by the Peruvian justice system. As reported by the Peruvian Public Prosecutor's Office, Toledo is wanted by the South American country for crimes involving collusion and money laundering.

The Attorney General's Office, as the central authority in extradition matters, informs that it has become aware that the Department of State of the United States of America granted the extradition of Alejandro Toledo Manrique for the crimes of collusion and money laundering.

Toledo was president of Peru from 2001 to 2006. The former president has remained in the United States since his arrest in the country in 2019. Peru's Public Prosecutor's Office is now working to expedite his transfer to the capital of Lima.

In statements to RPP Noticias, criminal lawyer and former anti-corruption prosecutor Ivan Meini said that the extradition procedure should be immediate on the part of the Peruvian government because there are no longer any obstacles in the way of the process. He also pointed out that it is likely that the Peruvian Public Prosecutor's Office will request that Toledo be sent to a preventive detention facility while he is being tried. He will likely serve his sentence in the prison built in a police base in Lima where former presidents Alberto Fujimori and Pedro Castillo are also imprisoned.