LIMA, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Peru hopes that the U.S. will speed up the extradition process of former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo, Peruvian Minister of Interior Carlos Basombrio said on Wednesday.
The senior official, who looks after the internal security, said that Toledo is a fugitive from Peruvian justice after fleeing to the U.S. in February. He is wanted in Peru on corruption charges and faces a preventive detention order of 18 months.
Basombrio said at a press conference he hoped the extradition process "is worked as fast as possible to have him in Peru and bring him to justice."
Toledo, who was in power between 2001 and 2006, is being investigated for having received an alleged bribe of 20 million U.S. dollars from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht, in exchange for granting the firm a contract to build the Interoceanic Highway between Peru and Brazil.
The Odebrecht scandal has also targeted two other former presidents, Alan Garcia (2006-2011) and Ollanta Humala (2011-2016), whose governments are also being linked to corruption charges.
Toledo is currently living in San Francisco with his wife Eliane Karp, where he works as a visiting scholar for Stanford University.
