Mexican officials say it could take at least a year to extradite the infamous drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the US, as more details emerged of how closely the authorities were following the movements of actors Sean Penn and Kate Del Castillo which led to his arrest.
A prolific trafficker of cocaine and marijuana across the American border, Guzman has twice escaped from Mexican prisons – once by bribing guards, and once by crawling through a tunnel.
He was arrested during a gun battle on 8 January, and Mexican police say his contacts and an interview with Penn for Rolling Stone helped them track the fugitive down.
Mexico has become much more willing to extradite Guzman after his second escape, which saw the country’s prison services come in for widespread criticism. Agents formally notified the prisoner that he was wanted in the US at the weekend.
But speaking to Radio Formula on Monday, the head of Mexico’s extradition office said possible appeals and challenges meant the process to do so will probably take “one year or longer”. Manuel Merino said similar cases had lasted up to six years in the past.
Guzman was recaptured on Friday after a shootout between gunmen of his Sinaloa drug cartel and Mexican marines. One marine was injured, while five suspects were killed and six others arrested.
And also on Monday, the Mexican newspaper El Universal published 10 photographs which appeared to show Penn and Del Castillo were closely monitored by the authorities as they arrived in Mexico on 2 October.
The photographs appear to show the actors arriving at an airport, then at a hotel, and greeting men who apparently took them to a small airstrip, from which they flew to a jungle camp to meet Guzman.
The newspaper said the photos, which appear to have been taken with a telephoto lens, are part of a Mexican government intelligence file that it obtained.
