MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday that Carlos Trevino, former CEO of state oil company Pemex, had been arrested in the United States and would be deported to stand trial in Mexico for corruption charges.

“It’s an extradition request that has been ongoing for about five years. He has finally been located and will be deported in the coming days. His trial will take place in Mexico,” Sheinbaum said during her daily news conference.

The president added that the arrest stems from a complaint filed by Emilio Lozoya, also a former Pemex director, who accused Trevino of receiving approximately 4 million pesos in bribes in exchange for authorizing a contract for the Ethylene XXI plant, linked to Odebrecht’s Braskem subsidiary.

Trevino was appointed CEO of Pemex in November 2017, during the administration of former President Enrique Pena Nieto, and served until the end of that administration in late 2018.

Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office had accused Trevino of criminal association and operations with illicit proceeds. An arrest warrant was first issued in September 2021 after he failed to appear in court.

(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez and Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Kylie Madry and Hugh Lawson)