What does being extradited mean?

Being extradited means a country officially hands a person over to another country under a treaty or legal request, so they can be prosecuted or serve a sentence already imposed. The person doesn’t disappear from one system into another overnight — the process normally starts with detention in the country where they’re found, followed by a judicial hearing in that same country to confirm the transfer is lawful, before any physical handover takes place. Extradition only happens after a court or competent authority formally signs off — it isn’t an automatic administrative step. For how this procedure actually plays out, including a case where it took 13 years to catch up with a fugitive.