Drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman appeared in a U.S. court on Friday after his surprise extradition from Mexico and pleaded not guilty to charges that he ran the world's largest drug-trafficking organisation during a decades-long criminal career.

Guzman, 59, once one of the world's most wanted drug lords, was accompanied by two court-appointed lawyers during the appearance in federal court in Brooklyn.

Best known by the nickname El Chapo, or "Shorty" in Spanish, the diminutive Guzman was extradited on the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration. It was a coincidence that some officials said was an olive branch to the incoming U.S. president, who has said he would kick Guzman's "ass" after taking office.

The Mexican attorney general's office rejected claims the move was related to Trump's swearing-in, noting that Guzman faces 10 pending cases in Mexico following his U.S. sentence.