Guatemala's former vice president, Roxana Baldetti, seen here in July 2016, may be extradited to the United States after she was indicted on drug trafficking charges. Photo by Esteban Biba/EPA

Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The United States announced Friday it will request the former Guatemalan vice president and the former minister of the interior be extradited to face drug trafficking charges.

The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala said Roxana Baldetti and Mauricio Lopez Bonilla were indicted on drug trafficking charge on Wednesday in a Washington, D.C. district court each on a criminal charge of intent to distribute 11 pounds or more of cocaine and knowing the cocaine will be distributed in the United States. The embassy said the U.S. Department of Justice has not yet forwarded the extradition request.


Baldetti is already facing legal troubles in her home country after resigning in 2015 and being charged with corruption in 2016. Baldetti is accused of receiving some $40 million in bribes in awarding government contracts. Prosecutors said in one trip to South Florida she spent nearly $30,000 in taxpayers' money on clothing and shoes.