Mexican drug lord El Chapo to be extradited to US if captured

MEXICO CITY

A Mexican judge has issued an order to extradite fugitive drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the United States — if he is recaptured following his jailbreak, authorities said Thursday.

The federal judge in Mexico City accepted a petition made by the Attorney-General's office on Wednesday, almost three weeks after Guzman broke out of a maximum-security prison by slipping down a tunnel on July 11.

Attorney General Arely Gomez said earlier this month that the US government had formally requested Guzman's extradition on June 25, some two weeks before his escape, and that prosecutors had been analysing the petition.

Her predecessor, Jesus Murillo Karam, had insisted following Guzman's February 2014 capture that the Sinaloa drug cartel honcho had to face Mexican justice before any extradition could be considered.

President Enrique Pena Nieto's decision to try Guzman in Mexico instead of immediately extraditing him to the United States last year has come under scrutiny since his latest escape.

Guzman had already fooled the authorities in 2001 when he busted out of another maximum-security penitentiary.

The extradition process, which can be appealed by defense attorneys, can last up to one year, an official in the attorney general's office told AFP.

According to Mexican law, a convict can be extradited once the accused has completed a sentence in Mexico. But the president can issue an executive order to extradite the suspect before facing domestic justice, the official said.

Jack Riley, the US Drug Enforcement Administration's deputy chief, told AFP on Wednesday that his agency would "certainly" want Guzman's extradition if he is recaptured, but that he understood why Mexico wanted to try him first.

While Mr Riley said he was optimistic that Guzman would be found again, the top law enforcement official said the manhunt would be a "marathon."