Mexico begins extradition proceedings against drug lord

*This didn’t take long. The popular belief in Mexico is that Chapo will escape again. Some of the more cynical comments on social media hope he will. Authorities tailed U.S. Actor Sean Penn for clues to Chapo’s whereabouts. VL

By E. Eduardo Castillo, Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has begun the process of extraditing drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to the United States after the famed fugitive was recaptured following a dramatic, months-long hunt featuring movie stars, sewer escapes and bloody shootouts.

That process will probably take “one year or longer,” the head of Mexico’s extradition office, Manuel Merino, told Radio Formula on Monday. He said the process had lasted as long as six years, in one case because of legal challenges.

On Sunday, agents formally notified Guzman that he was wanted in the United States. In a statement, the Attorney General’s Office said Mexican agents assigned to the international police agency Interpol served two arrest warrants to the drug lord, who is being held at the Altiplano prison following his capture by Mexican marines on Friday.

Guzman’s defense now has three days to present arguments against extradition and 20 days to present supporting evidence, beyond the plethora of other appeals they have already started filing.

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