El Chapo: Judge agrees to extradition of Mexican drug boss

The kingpin was detained earlier this year

Drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman is escorted into a helicopter following his recapture (Getty)

A Mexican judge has ruled that drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman can be extradited to face charges in the United States - days after he was moved to a prison on the US border.

Reuters said that on Saturday, Guzman was moved to a high security prison in the northern city of Ciudad Juarez on the US border, and a senior Mexican security official said the kingpin’s extradition was in motion and would happen by mid-year.

Guzman, boss of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, was for years the world's most wanted drug trafficker until his capture by Mexican Marines in February 2014. He then embarrassed the government by escaping from prison through a tunnel last July.

Sean Penn shakes hands with Mexican drug lord Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman in Mexico, in the photograph shot for the Rolling Stone magazine. Sean Penn has been mocked for Rolling Stone magazine article detailing his meeting with drug lord El Chapo

The government recaptured him in January and President Enrique Pena Nieto said soon afterwards that he had taken steps to ensure Guzman was extradited as soon as possible.

He faces charges ranging from money laundering to drug trafficking, kidnapping and murder in cities that include Chicago, Miami and New York.

Juan Pablo Badillo, one of Guzman’s lawyers, said his client's legal situation was still being processed and that to extradite him now would be a violation of his human rights.

Badillo said there were nine appeals pending against Guzman’s extradition. However, government officials have said in private that the decision to extradite the drug lord is essentially a political decision dependent on the president, the news agency said.

A government source said on Monday nothing was likely to happen to Guzman for weeks.