Global Courant
EXCLUSIVE: A plane carrying Federal Bureau of Investigation agents has landed in Lima, Peru to pick up Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in Natalee Holloway’s disappearance, according to Peru’s Interpol chief.
Van der Sloot is the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba in May 2005 during a senior trip to Mountain Brook High School, Alabama.
Colonel Carlos López Aeda, the head of Interpol in Lima, Peru, told Fox News Digital that the plane took off from the US for Lima on Wednesday morning and will take van der Sloot to the United States on Thursday morning.
According to López Aeda, van der Sloot is currently being held in Lima’s Ancón 1 prison until he is handed over to the FBI.
JORAN VAN DER SLOT WILL PROBABLY BE TRANSFERRED TO US DESPITE LAST-MINUTE EFFORTS: INTERPOL OFFICIAL
Van der Sloot leaves the Challapalca prison. (APTN)
A Peruvian court on Wednesday ordered the director of Ancón 1 prison to inform Van der Sloot of the impending transfer.
Maximo Altez, a lawyer for Van der Sloot, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that he has filed a habeas corpus petition against the Peruvian government in an effort to stop his client’s transfer to the United States.
According to the court filed by Altez, his client was not informed by Peruvian officials of the “temporary extradition” process that was underway against him, which Altez says is a “serious violation of the constitution.”
JORAN VAN DER SLOT CASE: DUTCH OFFICIALS ADVISE PRIME NATALEE HOLLOWAY SUSPECTED TO FIGHT TRANSFER, SAYS LAWYER
Van der Sloot signs papers in Challapalca Prison. (APTN)
Joran van der Sloot does paperwork in the Challapalca prison. (APTN)
Altez said the Peruvian court had 24 hours to respond to the petition.
The Dutchman is serving time in a Peruvian prison for the 2010 murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores. Van der Sloot was originally sentenced to 28 years in prison for the murder, but was given more time due to a drug smuggling scandal he was involved in while in the prison.
Natalee Holloway’s body has not been found. In January 2012, Van der Sloot pleaded guilty to Flores’ murder. That same month, Natalee Holloway was declared legally dead.
Van der Sloot now faces extortion and telephone fraud charges in the United States after allegedly attempting to sell Beth Holloway, Natalee’s mother, information about the location of her daughter’s body.
JORAN VAN DER SLOT’S LAWY SUBMITS HABEAS CORPUS REQUEST IN ATTEMPT TO STOP TRANSFER TO US
Natalee Holloway was last seen alive in Aruba on a high school field trip in Mountain Brook. (Federal Office of Investigation)
Federal prosecutors say Van der Sloot requested $250,000 – $25,000 upfront for the information and the remainder would be paid out when Natalee Holloway’s body was positively identified.
However, Van der Sloot lied to Beth Holloway’s lawyer, John Q. Kelly, about the whereabouts of her daughter’s remains, US prosecutors said.
Beth Holloway, mother of Natalee Holloway, speaks at the opening of the Natalee Holloway Resource Center (NHRC) at the National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington, June 8, 2010. Natalee, 18, of Mountain Brook, Alabama, disappeared while carrying a high school graduation trip to Dutch Aruba, an island in the Caribbean in 2005. She never showed up for a flight home and her disappearance made international headlines. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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In an earlier statement when the Peruvian court announced van der Sloot’s transfer, Beth Holloway, Natalee’s mother, said this gives a chance that justice will finally be served.
“I was blessed to have had Natalee in my life for 18 years, and as of this month I have been exactly 18 years without her. She would be 36 years old now,” Beth Holloway said. “It has been a very long and painful journey, but the persistence of many will pay off. Together we will finally get justice for Natalee.”
Adam Sabes is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Adam.Sabes@fox.com and on Twitter @asabes10.
