- Title: Drug kingpin Guzman's extradition hearing postponed
- Date: 24th October 2016
- Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (FILE - JANUARY 8, 2016) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF MEXICAN TROOPS ESCORTING GUZMAN FROM VEHICLE TO HELICOPTER AFTER HE WAS RECAPTURED, TO BE TAKEN TO PRISON
- Embargoed: 8th November 2016 18:19
- Keywords: Guzman drugs extradition Chapo
- Location: MEXICO CITY AND CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
- City: MEXICO CITY AND CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Reuters ID: LVA00255D8N5V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: An attorney for captured drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Juan Pablo Badillo said on Monday (October 24) a hearing to discuss his client's eventual extradition to the United States, had been postponed due to ongoing appeals by lawyers to block his departure.
Mexico expects to extradite captured Guzman to the United States at the outset of 2017, a top government official said this month, despite these appeals.
Badillo said Guzman's extradition was not possible because there were far too many appeals were pending for extradition to take place.
"At the moment, his extradition is not possible. They (authorities) have to abide by the law, the constitution must be respected due to the jurisprudential criteria issued by the highest court of the nation, which is the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. It can't be: 'At the discretion of the authority, of the administrative authority.' To say Mr. Guzman, or in this case, El Chapo as he is known, leaves because he has to. No! The law must be respected!" Badillo said.
Badillo added that he believed Guzman's extradition would not happen any time soon.
"No, it's definitely not possible. It's not viable. I have the certainty that it is neither feasible this year, or the next, or the next millennium," said Badillo.
Guzman, boss of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, was arrested by Mexican police in the northern city of Los Mochis in January after breaking out of a maximum security prison through a tunnel dug right into his cell six months earlier.
It was Guzman's second jailbreak in less than 15 years, and President Enrique Pena Nieto swiftly pledged to extradite him.
However, the process has proven more laborious than some senior officials had suggested as the kingpin's lawyers seek to prevent his removal to the United States through appeals.
National Security Commissioner Renato Sales provided the clearest indication of a departure date for Guzman this month, saying he expected the matter to be resolved soon.
A Mexican judge ruled in May that Guzman could be extradited to the United States where he faces charges including money laundering, drug trafficking, kidnapping and murder. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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