Mexico to hear 'Chapo' US extradition case this month

A Mexican court will hear the US extradition case of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman on September 26, his lawyer said Wednesday, vowing to appeal if he loses.

The court in Mexico City will weigh two petitions filed by Guzman to block his extradition, which was approved by the foreign ministry in May, his lawyer Jose Refugio Rodriguez told AFP.

"The judge can make a decision -- or not -- right there and then, but usually in these cases he takes time to analyze it," Rodriguez said, adding that a ruling could also take "days or weeks."

If the judge accepts the extradition, Guzman will have 10 days to appeal the decision in a higher court, the lawyer said, noting that he could also take the case all the way to the Supreme Court.

The powerful chief of the Sinaloa drug cartel was arrested in January, six months after he brazenly escaped prison in a 1.5-kilometer (one-mile) tunnel.

The foreign ministry agreed in May to accept two US extradition requests. He faces cocaine smuggling charges in California and multiple accusations, including murder, in Texas.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto had previously opposed Guzman's extradition, preferring to prosecute the country's most notorious prisoner in Mexico.

But Pena Nieto called on the attorney general to expedite the extradition process after the kingpin's July 2015 escape -- his second jailbreak -- which embarrassed the administration.

A US government official has told AFP that the extradition process could be finalized before the end of the year, but Rodriguez said it could take years.