The United States had issued an extradition request for drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman before he broke out of a Mexican prison last weekend.
According to The New York Times, which cites a statement from Mexican Attorney General Arely Gómez González, the request was made June 25.
Guzman escaped from a maximum security prison Saturday through an elaborate, mile-long tunnel that had been built from the shower area of his cell and led to a nearby construction site.
After Guzman was arrested on Feb. 22, 2014, the U.S. had said it would file an extradition request, though it's not clear if that happened, reported The Associated Press.
Thus far in the manhunt for Guzman, Mexico has not accepted
U.S. offers for assistance.
Last fall,
Guzman was charged in 12 murders in Federal District Court in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. But the Mexican government refused to release him to the Americans.
"'El Chapo' must stay here to complete his sentence, and then I will extradite him," Mexico's previous attorney general, Jesús Murillo Karam, said at the time, according to the Times. "So about 300 or 400 years later — it will be a while."
Guzman's escape led to 18 employees at the prison being questioned, and he apparently had an
18-minute head start before anyone noticed he was missing from his cell.
Guzman threatened real estate mogul and Republican candidate for president
Donald Trump on Twitter after he escaped, following Trump's comments about Mexicans that have stirred the immigration debate in the U.S. Trump also spoke about the drug kingpin's escape before he was threatened, blasting
"corrupt Mexican officials"
U.S. officials have vowed to be on alert for Guzman should he cross the border.
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