The government of Mexico is now planning to begin the extradition process of the Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, Arely Gómez González, the attorney general of Mexico, said on Saturday.

"Since Guzmán Loera has been recaptured, the beginning of the extradition proceedings should begin," the Mexican attorney general said in a statement.

González also added that it was the first time that the Mexican government took the initiative to proceed with Guzman's extradition since July, shortly after his escape from prison.

El Chapo, once extradited to the U.S., will face drug trafficking, organized crime and money laundering charges which he would surely find harder to escape for the third time.

As posted by The Wall Street Journal, the Mexican government did not give the exact time frame for the extradition process. It could take weeks or months and can also be subject to delays and injunctions filed by Guzman's lawyers.

Guzmán will be given three days to file objections regarding the extradition and twenty more days to present evidence to defend his stand.

"There is no fast-track extradition," said Agustín Acosta, a defense lawyer who is not involved in the case. "The process could take maybe as long as a year."

Guzmán's lawyer, Juan Pablor Badillo, said in an interview last Saturday that the Mexican government cannot and should not extradite his client "because he is a Mexican and Mexico has wise laws and a fair constitution."

Before Guzmán's second escape, Mexicans were divided into whether or not to approve the extradition process, said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, an expert on the Gulf Cartel who teaches at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Some government officials even expressed their strong opposition in executing the plan in spite of fears that he could escape. "But now I don't know of anyone who is against it," Guadalupe added.

Guzmán, also known as "El Chapo" or "Shorty" was recaptured on Friday in his home in the north-western city of Los Mochis, a state of Sinaloa. During the raid, he tried to flee through a drain but was caught by marines during the shootout. One marine was wounded and five suspects were killed in the operation, as posted by BBC News.

Because the hunt for Guzmán is considered the most extensive manhunt in the Mexican history, Mexican officials proclaimed his arrest as a point of national pride and a sign that the country's justice system is at last coming into its own.