Interview: Druglord Guzman's extradition to U.S. could take at least 3 years: lawyer

The extradition of Mexican druglord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the United States could take at least three years, head of Guzman's legal team, Jose Refugio Rodriguez, told Xinhua on Saturday.

This is because he will institute legal proceedings in Mexican courts against the handover, said Rodriguez.

The lawyer confirmed Guzman's legal team is willing to take his defence all the way to Mexico's Supreme Court considering the fact that Mexico's Foreign Ministry endorsed the extradition before the United States provides sufficient evidence to substantiate the charges against Guzman.

On Friday, the Foreign Ministry announced that it had decided to allow the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel to be handed over to the United States to face almost a dozen charges before Texas and California's federal courts.

The Federal District Court for the Southern District of California has been seeking the druglord since 1995 to prosecute him on charges of criminal association and importing and possessing tons of cocaine to distribute in U.S. territory.

The Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas has been looking to prosecute him since 2012 for seven charges, including drug trafficking, money laundering and even homicide.

However, the lawyer said there are no direct accusations as to what crimes Guzman committed in the U.S. territory. "In the Texan court, Joaquin is being charged for criminal offences that, in any case, fall within the jurisdiction of the Mexican courts," said Refugio.

The lawyer added that Guzman, currently imprisoned in a federal jail in Ciudad Juarez in the northern state of Chihuahua, was notified of the extradition. The druglord has been housed in the northern prison since May 7 when he was moved from the maximum security prison Altiplano where he had been kept since his recapture in January.

Refugio said that in 15 or 20 days he will have the defence request ready which will be put forward before a federal judge to contest Guzman's extradition. This will begin the legal action to avoid or at least delay the druglord's handover over to the United States.

"The defence request trial will take three years, at least," said the lawyer.

The only way to avoid fighting it out in Mexican courts is an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on favorable conditions for Guzman's extradition, said Refugio.

According to the lawyer, Guzman informed his legal team on May 18 that he would continue looking to negotiate with the United States because he is more interested in facing the U.S. justice system than instituting legal proceedings in Mexico against his extradition in the long term.

Listed by the Mexican and U.S. governments as the most significant druglord of the last decade, Guzman has been imprisoned since Jan. 8 after being recaptured in the city of Los Mochis, Sinaloa.

He was caught six months after escaping through a 1.5-km tunnel from his cell in the central Mexican state of Altiplano.

During the last two weeks, Mexican judges agreed that the two extradition requests from the U.S. courts meet the necessary legal requirements and then on Friday the Foreign Ministry approved them.

Refugio said that both the defence team and Guzman were prepared for the Foreign Ministry's approval of the extradition and would contest the decision if the druglord can not get favorable conditions. Endi