'El Chapo': Mexico starts drug kingpin's extradition process to US

Mexico has formally started the process of extradition to the US of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

The authorities said Interpol officers served him papers at the Altiplano prison, near Mexico City.

Guzman, 58, escaped from the maximum security jail in July and was recaptured on Friday.

Mexico is also considering whether to investigate Hollywood actor Sean Penn, who interviewed Guzman soon after his jail break.

Unnamed Mexican officials have said Penn's secret meeting helped lead them to the fugitive.

                                           Guzman El Chapo (left) and Sean Penn had a secret meeting last October

 

When Sean met El Chapo who is 'El Chapo' Guzman? Public Enemy Number One

Mexico began extradition proceedings in line with US requests from 2014.

In a statement, Mexico's attorney general's office said Interpol Mexico agents went to Guzman's prison to execute two arrest warrants.

The US filed extradition requests so he could face charges of smuggling vast amounts of drugs into the country.

Guzman, who was named Public Enemy Number One by the Chicago Crime Commission in 2013, has been indicted by at least seven US federal district courts.

However, the extradition of "El Chapo" to the US is by no means a foregone conclusion, the BBC's Katy Watson in Mexico City reports.

Mexico and the US have an extradition treaty - but the process can take months.

Guzman's lawyers can raise motions to try and block any extradition and the process has to go through the judicial system, our correspondent says.

Many people believe he should face justice in Mexico first. But the case goes beyond sovereignty and national pride.

Guzman, who was one of the world's most wanted drug traffickers, escaped from jail through a tunnel dug in the showers.

That was his second escape - he was first arrested in Guatemala in 1993 and escaped from Puente Grande jail in 2001, reportedly in a laundry basket after bribing officials.

He was on the run for 13 years before being held again in 2014. Previous extradition requests from the US have been turned down.

February 2014: Recapture after 13 years on the run following "laundry basket" escape from Puente Grande maximum security prison

July 2015: He escape via tunnel from Altiplano prison

2 October 2015: He was interviewed by US actor Sean Penn in Durango state jungle hideout and then by phone and video

17 October: Mexican officials announce narrow escape as police try to recapture him in neighbouring Sinaloa state

January 2016: He was recaptured in Los Mochis, Sinaloa state.