Mexico begins extradition proceedings against drug lord

Guzman, who has escaped twice from Mexican maximum security prisons and is being sought for extradition by the United States, was recaptured on Friday after a bloody shootout in the city of Los Mochis in his home state of Sinaloa.

MORE: El Chapo talk with Sean Penn led to his whereaboutsOn the Golden Globes red carpet Sunday evening, celebrities said it’s not uncommon for actors to have meetings in such a nature.

A Mexican federal official said the quickest El Chapo could be extradited would be six months – but that is unlikely because of appeals.

Agents from Interpol Mexico went to Guzman’s prison near Mexico City to execute two arrest warrants for his extradition, two days after he was captured in a deadly military raid. It led to a violent gun fight, leaving five suspects dead and six arrested. One marine was injured.

“I seriously doubt that charges will be brought against them even though Sean Penn took extraordinary steps to prevent authorities from using his phone to track the whereabouts of Chapo”, said Mike Vigil, a former senior official at the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

Guzmán’s lawyers are expected to strongly contest any extradition attempt, and the full legal process could take months in the courts.

He wrote that he was flown aboard a small plane that had a device that jams radar.

“The detention of the world’s most wanted criminal is a credit to the coordination of our institutions in favor of security and the rule of law”, Pena Nieto said.

A meeting made for the movies: Sean Penn met and interviewed Joaquin Guzman Loera, known as El Chapo, in a mountain jungle clearing while El Chapo was on the run this fall.

Guzman started his drug cartel in 1980 and presided over a powerful empire that supplied much of the marijuana, cocaine and heroin sold in the United States.

Mexican authorities had said they captured Guzman partly because his representatives contacted filmmakers and actors about making his biopic. 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”.

Mexican officials are remaining tight-lipped over whether they will launch their own investigation into Penn and Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, who helped arrange the interview.

Heavy gunfire can be heard in the background followed by shouts of “security upstairs” in reference to the men guarding the drugs trafficker.

According to Fusion, Mexican officials edited the 15 minutes of (graphic) footage, which a Mexican television station said was shot on GoPro cameras strapped to the helmets of the marines involved in the assault.