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Mexico starts proceedings to extradite Guzman to US

Top officials in the party of President Enrique Pena Nieto also floated the idea of extradition, which they had flatly ruled out before Guzman’s embarrassing escape from Mexico’s top maximum security prison on July 11 — his second from a Mexican prison.

McDonough was responding to the interview posted Saturday by Rolling Stone, in which Penn revealed he was in contact with Guzman following his escape from a Mexican prison last summer.

Penn and Guzman met face-to-face for several hours and then weeks later the Mexican criminal answered questions on camera which Penn sent via his mobile phone.

“He pulls me into a “compadre” hug, looks me in the eyes and speaks a lengthy greeting in Spanish too fast for my ears”, Penn wrote.

“I read a little bit about it, so I have nothing much profound to say about it, except that I’m glad that this drug-cartel leader has been caught”, he said.

In business, Penn soon discovers, El Chapo finds everyone is easy to deal with.

A Mexican law enforcement official tells the Associated Press that the interview helped lead authorities to his whereabouts.

The way things are appears to be changing rapidly for the cartel runner.

In the article, Guzman said he was the world’s largest supplier of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana. “I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats”, he says.

The interview added another twist to the surreal life of the two-time prison escapee. Durango borders Sinaloa state, the centre of Guzman’s operations.

Guzman had agreed to a two-day interview after the October meeting, Penn wrote, but opted to send a video response to questions instead over security concerns. A motorcycle on rails inside the tunnel had been modified to run in the low-oxygen environment, deep underground.

A motorcycle on rails inside the tunnel had been modified to run in the low-oxygen environment, deep underground.

Guzman was recaptured Friday in the city of Los Mochis in his home state of Sinaloa after a shootout that killed five of his associates and wounded one marine.

Penn and the “Material Girl” singer also held hands as they arrived at the fundraiser together. Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, star of soap opera “La Reina del Sur“, conducted the interview with Penn.

The drug lord had earlier busted out of a Mexican prison in 2001 and evaded authorities for more than 13 years before being recaptured on February 22, 2014, in the Pacific resort city of Mazatlan.

Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio, on ABC’s “This Week”, had harsh words for Penn. Trump has been highly critical of illegal migration of Mexicans to the U.S.

Asked about who is to blame for drug trafficking, Guzman is quoted as saying: “If there was no consumption, there would be no sales”.

One of the lawyers representing Guzman said Sunday that he does not think his client should be extradited to the United States, and his legal team “will present as many appeals as are needed” to prevent the transfer.

Another source, quoted by Reuters, said the Mexicans were considering investigating Penn and Castillo.

It’s unclear whether Penn’s interview helped in his recapture.

Mexican officials refuse to allow the extradition, citing the legal loophole advantages that could be used by El Chapo’s legal team.

Mexico will begin proceedings to extradite two-time prison escapee Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera to the United States, where he faces drug trafficking charges.

Another leg of the daylong trip through central Mexico to meet Guzman was on a light aircraft allegedly fitted with equipment to evade radar detection, Penn said in a story published in Rolling Stone magazine on Saturday.

The BBC’s Katy Watson, in Mexico City, says his extradition is by no means a foregone conclusion.

Sean Penn El Chapo

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