Mexico might extradite Chapo Guzman… in ‘300 or 400 years'

Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam told the Associated Press that he would consider the U.S.’ request to extradite drug kingpin Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman, but only if Tio Sam can wait a few hundred years first.

“I could accept an extradition, but at the time I choose,” he said. “So about 300 or 400 years later — it will be a while.”

Murillo Karam’s bold statement comes on the heels of an announcement last week when the attorney general said he expects the U.S. to file an extradition request in the “next hours.” The declaration sparked a media buzz, but U.S. authorities have declined to comment.

Chapo’s legal defense team isn’t waiting. The drug lord’s lawyer last week filed a preemptive appeal against any U.S. extradition attempts.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, U.S. federal prosecutors on Tuesday presented new indictments against the Sinaloa organization that Chapo once ran after a judge sentenced the Flores twins for facilitating the trafficking of $1.8 billion in drugs from 2005-2008.

Seems like Breaking Bad got this right. Photo via AP/U.S. Marshals Service

“They are the hub of the Sinaloa cartel here in Chicago,” U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon said. “For years they ran what is the largest drug distribution network in the history of the city.”

Fardon said the Chicago-based investigation linked the Flores twins to Chapo Guzman. But the brothers apparently cut a deal with U.S. authorities to reduce their life sentences to 14 years.

The Mexican Attorney General is an outspoken critic of the U.S. negotiating plea bargains with cartel bosses, which is one of the reasons why he is so loath to extradite Chapo Guzman.

But now that the imprisoned twins have officially turned, they could provide new information for U.S. prosecutors to exert even more pressure on Mexico in the ongoing battle for the drug war’s top trophy.