Panama City ( CNN ) -- His fate uncertain , Manuel Noriega is being returned Sunday to Panama , nearly 22 years after the former dictator was forcibly removed from office by U.S. forces . Now 77 , Noriega is being extradited this weekend from France , which got Noriega in April 2010 after he spent two decades in an American prison . Panamanian officials want him to face justice in the case of the killing of Hugo Spadafora , a doctor and political opponent of Noriega . Noriega was convicted in absentia of being involved with the kidnapping and killing of Spadafora in 1985 . After a stop in Spain , Noriega is expected to arrive late Sunday afternoon in Panama City . For almost two decades , Noriega was a major player in a country of critical regional importance to the United States because of its location on the Panama Canal , a key strategic and economic waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans on the narrow isthmus linking the Americas . While in U.S. custody , Noriega suffered from prostate cancer and had a stroke . Authorities have strengthened security to guarantee Noriega 's safety in prison , Panamanian Foreign Minister Roberto Henriquez said . `` We have to be ready for all the possibilities in all aspects . Noriega inspires very big emotions , and Noriega 's life could very well be at risk in Panama , '' Henriquez said . Judicial officials in Panama will determine whether Noriega can stand trial , Henriquez said . Interior Minister Roxana Mendez said Noriega will receive the same treatment as other inmates at the Renacer prison complex . `` The Panamanian state has no special consideration when it comes to him serving his sentence inside the prison complex , '' Mendez said . `` However , based on our laws , and if there 's a valid request from his attorneys , they can ask that he be transferred from the prison to house arrest if the inmate 's health is in jeopardy or if the inmate , being over 70 years old , may face risks inside the prison complex . '' Last year , a French court sentenced Noriega to seven years in prison for laundering money through French banks . He also was fined almost 2.3 million euros ( $ 2.9 million ) , the amount of drug money he was accused of laundering through French banks . Noriega denied the charges . During the trial , defense lawyer Yves Leberquier tried to paint Noriega as the victim of larger geopolitical forces , accusing the United States of placing and moving pawns to serve its interests . The U.S. government has portrayed Noriega as the ultimate crooked cop -- a man who was paid millions by the Medellin drug cartel in Colombia to protect cocaine and money shipments . He was convicted of drug trafficking and other crimes in the United States . Born in 1934 , Noriega was abandoned by his parents at the age of 5 and raised by an aunt in a rundown district of Panama City . After failing to get into medical school , Noriega joined the army , studying at Peru 's Military Academy of Chorrillos and quickly rising through the ranks . In the 1970s he served as head of military intelligence to Gen. Omar Torrijos , who had seized power in a military coup in 1968 . Torrijos died in a plane crash in 1981 , and Noriega emerged as his de facto successor . By 1983 he controlled both Panama 's armed forces and civilian government . In 1988 Noriega was indicted in the United States on charges of racketeering , laundering drug money and drug trafficking . He was accused of having links to Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar 's notorious Medellin cartel and , in the process , amassing a multimillion-dollar fortune . Amid growing unrest in Panama , U.S. President George H.W . Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in December 1989 , claiming that Noriega 's rule posed a threat to U.S. lives and property . Noriega fled his offices and tried to seek sanctuary in the Vatican Embassy in Panama City . U.S. troops set up large speakers around the compound , blaring music at all hours , a psychological ploy to rattle the general . He surrendered in January 1990 and was quickly escorted to the United States for civilian trial . During his 2010 trial in France , Noriega said , `` I received high praise from the U.S. , Interpol and other countries who all benefited from my fight against drugs . '' CNN 's Rafael Romo contributed to this report .
The former strongman is expected to arrive in Panama late Sunday afternoon . Panamanian officials want him to face justice there . The former dictator has been convicted of crimes in the United States and France .