Mexico begins process of extraditing “El Chapo” to U.S.

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.

Guzman’s powerful Sinaloa cartel smuggles multi-ton shipments of cocaine and marijuana as well as manufacturing and transporting methamphetamines and heroin, mostly to the U.S. He is wanted in various U.S. states and his July escape deeply embarrassed the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto and strained ties between the countries.

Guzman’s attorney Juan Pablo Badillo has said the defense has already filed six motions to challenge extradition requests.

Badillo said that his client shouldn’t be extradited to the U.S. because “our country must respect national sovereignty, the sovereignty of its institutions to impart justice.”

Mexico’s willingness to extradite Guzman is a sharp turnaround from the last time he was captured in 2014, when then-Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said the extradition would happen only after he finished his sentence in Mexico in “300 or 400 years.”

Guzman was re-apprehended on Friday after a shootout between gunmen and Mexican marines at the home in Los Mochis, a seaside city in Guzman’s home state of Sinaloa. Five suspects were killed and six others arrested. One marine was injured.

Mexican authorities say actor Sean Penn’s contacts with Guzman helped them track the fugitive down – even if he slipped away from an initial raid on the hideout where the Hollywood actor apparently met him.

Penn’s article on Guzman was published late Saturday by Rolling Stone magazine, a day after the drug lord’s recapture. In it, Penn wrote of elaborate security precautions, but also said that as he flew to Mexico on Oct 2 for the meeting, “I see no spying eyes, but I assume they are there.”

He was apparently right.

A Mexican federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to comment on the issue, told the Associated Press the Penn interview led authorities to Guzman in the area of Tamazula, a rural part of Durango state.

They raided Guzman’s remote hideout a few days after the interview and narrowly missed capturing Guzman following his July escape from Mexico’s top security prison though a mile-long (1.5-kilometer) tunnel.

Describing the capture, Attorney General Arely Gomez said that investigators had been aided in locating Guzman by documented contacts between his attorneys and “actors and producers” she said were interested in making a film about him, though she did not name them.

Three months after that close call, marines finally caught him in a residential neighborhood of Los Mochis, where they’d been monitoring a suspected safe house. Guzman was able to escape via storm drains and exited a manhole in the street. But he was captured in a vehicle on the highway.

In the interview in Rolling Stone, Guzman defends his work at the head of the world’s biggest drug trafficking organization, one blamed for thousands of killings. When asked if he is to blame for high addiction rates, he responds: “No, that is false, because the day I don’t exist, it’s not going to decrease in any way at all. Drug trafficking? That’s false.”

Penn wrote that Guzman was interested in having a movie filmed on his life and wanted Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, who had portrayed a drug trafficker in a television series, involved in the project.

“He was interested in seeing the story of his life told on film, but would entrust its telling only to Kate,” wrote Penn, who appears in a photo posted with the interview shaking hands with Guzman.

Penn’s representatives have not commented on the claims by Mexican officials.

Associated Press writer Christopher Sherman in Los Mochis, Mark Stevenson in Mexico City and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

Mexico has begun the process of extraditing drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the United States after the famed . . .

Follow Us On Google News | Get Our Newsletter



Trending News on PVDN

  • puerto-vallarta-rainfall-hurricane-flossie-july-2025Puerto Vallarta braces for torrential rains as Hurricane Flossie gains strength Puerto Vallarta faces a high risk of flooding as Hurricane Flossie intensifies in the Pacific. Torrential rains and overwhelmed drainage systems pose major challenges for the city. Puerto Vallarta, a city wedged between the Sierra Madre mountains and the Pacific Ocean, is no stranger to dramatic weather shifts—but this summer, the skies are testing the…
  • raw-sewage-playa-los-muertos-puerto-vallartaMore Raw Sewage Dumping at Playa Los Muertos Appear to Come From Local Hotel Business owners in Puerto Vallarta are demanding action after raw sewage was discovered leaking onto Playa Los Muertos, raising public health and tourism concerns. A raw sewage leak at Playa Los Muertos in Puerto Vallarta has sparked outrage among local tourist service providers and business owners, who say the contamination is driving away visitors and…
  • hurricane-flossie-strengthens-july-1-2025Hurricane Flossie will bring tropical storm conditions to parts of Guerrero, Michoacán, Colima, and Jalisco Hurricane Flossie intensifies off Mexico's Pacific coast with winds near 90 mph. Heavy rain, flooding, and tropical storm conditions expected in parts of Guerrero, Michoacán, Colima, and Jalisco. Hurricane Flossie continued to intensify early Tuesday morning as it moved west-northwestward off the coast of southwestern Mexico, prompting tropical storm warnings and watches across multiple states.…
  • tropical-storm-flossie-hurricane-mexico-pacific-coastTropical Storm Flossie to Strengthen into Hurricane as It Tracks Along Mexico’s Pacific Coast Tropical Storm Flossie is expected to become a Category 2 hurricane by July 2 as it moves parallel to Mexico’s Pacific coast, bringing dangerous rainfall, wind, and surf. Tropical Storm Flossie is on the verge of forming from Tropical Depression Six-E and is forecast to strengthen rapidly into a hurricane as it parallels Mexico’s southwestern…
  • tropical-storm-flossie-strengthens-mexico-june-2025Tropical Storm Flossie Strengthens Off Mexico’s Pacific Coast, Could Become Hurricane by Tuesday Tropical Storm Flossie gains strength off southwestern Mexico, with hurricane status possible by Tuesday. Storm warnings issued from Punta San Telmo to Playa Perula. Tropical Storm Flossie continues to gain strength off Mexico’s Pacific coastline, prompting tropical storm warnings and watches across several southwestern states. According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Flossie is expected…
  • oregon-murder-fugitive-extradited-puerto-vallartaFugitive Wanted for 2008 Oregon Homicide Captured in Puerto Vallarta and Extradited to U.S. Jesús Rodríguez Borrayo, a fugitive for 17 years, was extradited from Mexico to Oregon for his role in a 2008 drive-by shooting that left one dead. He was located in Puerto Vallarta. A man wanted for murder and other violent crimes in the United States for nearly two decades has been extradited after being found…
  • tropical-storm-flossie-mexico-coast-rain-surf-alertCabo Corrientes under tropical storm watch as Flossie expected to Bring Heavy Rain and Dangerous Surf to Southwestern Mexico Tropical Storm Flossie is forecast to strengthen and may impact Mexico's southwest coast from Zihuatanejo to Cabo Corrientes with heavy rain, flooding, and hazardous surf early this week. Tropical Storm Flossie is expected to deliver heavy rains, gusty winds, and dangerous surf conditions to Mexico’s southwestern coast in the coming days, prompting authorities to issue…
  • cabo-corrientes-warning-canceled-hurricane-flossieCabo Corrientes Spared as Hurricane Flossie Warning Lifted, But Pacific Coast Still at Risk Cabo Corrientes no longer under tropical storm watch as Hurricane Flossie nears Mexico's Pacific coast, with dangerous winds and heavy rains threatening Michoacán, Colima, and Jalisco. The tropical storm watch for Cabo Corrientes was officially canceled Tuesday, offering a measure of relief for the scenic coastal town as Hurricane Flossie continues to churn off Mexico’s…
  • cancun-2025-sargassum-beaches-and-activitiesSargassum won’t ruin your Cancun vacation, there are plenty of clean beaches and tourist activities As the 2025 sargassum season continues through September, visitors to Cancun can still enjoy clear beaches like Playa Delfines and Playa Caracol. As the 2025 sargassum season intensifies across Quintana Roo, tourists are finding it more difficult to enjoy the region’s iconic white-sand beaches without encountering the unsightly brown seaweed. While the influx of sargassum…
  • cancun-beach-cleanup-sargassumMassive Beach Cleanup to Combat Sargassum in Cancun After a week of the Cancun’s tourism department denying sargassum existed and insisting media photos were fakes, over 600 public servants and volunteers joined the first simultaneous beach cleanup. In a bold step toward environmental preservation and tourism sustainability, Cancun's Municipal President Ana Paty Peralta led the city’s first simultaneous beach cleanup effort this week.…
Scroll to Top