



But where Guzman stands trial may ultimately be decided by Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch.



Lynch previously served as U.S. attorney in Brooklyn and may want her former office, which has significant experience in winning convictions in complex, high-profile criminal cases, to take the case.



Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn filed charges against Guzman in 2009 and recently combined them with another case in Florida.



Officials in Mexico say they are finally willing to extradite Guzman, after refusing to do so following his previous arrests. But his lawyers will strenuously fight his transfer, and the legal process could take up to a year, officials said.



Jose Manuel Marino, the director of international processes at Mexico's attorney general's office, said Monday that the "extradition process has begun" although he added that Mexican law doesn't allow for immediate transfer of a prisoner to another country.



"Right now, our legislation doesn't allow for that," Marino said in an interview on Televisa's "Primero Noticias." "We have to abide by our international commitments and the extradition law. The treaty, the law and the penal code carry specific terms for the extradition process."



Juan Pablo Badillo, who represents Guzman, said his legal team already has filed six legal appeals in an effort to delay or obstruct the extradition process. Legal experts said the tactic is unlikely to prevent extradition, however.



Badillo argued that Guzman should be tried in a Mexican court, and serve any sentence in a Mexican prison, before he can be extradited.



The lawyer said he had not been given an opportunity to speak to Guzman since his capture in the coastal city of Los Mochis after a months-long manhunt that culminated in a gun battle near the house where he had been hiding.



Mexican authorities had received a tip from a neighbor about loud noise, more people than usual and what looked like a large armory moving in and out of the property, Pike said in a telephone interview.



Guzman returning to his hometown was like "the rabbit going back to the briar patch," he said.



Mexican authorities and DEA agents tracking Guzman knew about his ties to the property, but it had been quiet for several years, Pike said.





"Then the phone call comes in," he said. "There was no activity and now there is a ton of activity. The true catalyst was a neighbor's call."