Mexico's Attorney General said a judge would be in charge of the extradition procedure, which can take months and sometimes years. The attorney general's office said Preciado was captured in Santiago Escuintla, in the state of Nayarit.

In the 2000 California incident, Preciado along with other members of his gang were stopped for driving without lights. US officials charge that Preciado opened a car door and shot at the sheriff deputies with an AK-47. The injured deputy suffers from partial paralysis and loss of memory, Mexican justice officials said.