USA

Second Mexican Judge Approves Drug King 'El Chapo's' Extradition to US

FILE - Mexico's most wanted drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, stands for his prison mug shot at the Altiplano maximum security federal prison in Almoloya, Mexico, Jan. 8, 2016.

A second federal judge in Mexico has approved a U.S. extradition request for drug lord Joaquin Guzman, better known as "El Chapo."

The request approved Monday is from a U.S. federal court in Texas, where Guzman faces drug trafficking, money laundering and murder charges.

Another Mexican judge approved a separate California extradition request last week, where Guzman has been charged with cocaine trafficking.

It could still be a while before Guzman is sent to the United States.

Mexico's foreign ministry has 20 days to approve the extradition requests and Guzman's lawyers would then have 30 days to appeal.

Guzman is Mexico's most powerful drug lord and was one of the world's most wanted criminals.

He is in a Mexican prison in Ciudad Juarez, along the U.S. border in Texas. Authorities arrested him in January after his embarrassing escape last year from a maximum security prison, where he crawled through a hole in a shower that led to a long tunnel.