Mexico begins process of extraditing drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman to the U.S.

Mexican marines capture Joaquin &quot;El Chapo&quot; Guzman, for a third time

(Image credit: Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Image)

published 11 January 2016

On Sunday, Mexican authorities formally notified recently re-jailed drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman that he is wanted in the U.S., starting a potentially lengthy process to extradite him. When Guzman was last captured in 2014, after 13 years on the run, Mexico's attorney general said the country would turn him over to the U.S. only in "300 or 400 years," after he'd completed his sentence. A new attorney general and an elaborate escape from a Mexican maximum security prison later, Mexico appears to have changed its mind.

Guzman's lawyers have already filed a handful of appeals, signaling months or even years of maneuvering to keep Guzman out of U.S. prisons. "Our country must respect national sovereignty, the sovereignty of its institutions to impart justice," Guzman attorney Juan Pablo Badillo argued. Guzman, the head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, has been indicted on U.S. drug trafficking and murder charges.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.