Mexican drug kingpin "El Chapo" to appear in US courtroom

Extradited Thursday to face U.S. drug trafficking and other charges, Mexico's most wanted man was expected to appear in a federal court in New York Friday, the same day Donald Trump, who has lashed out at Mexico, is inaugurated as president.

Carl Pike, a former DEA agent who spent the last part of his career helping the drug agency chase Guzman, said Thursday he was always confident that the drug lord would be sent to the U.S., but the timing was "interesting."

Derek Maltz, who headed the DEA's Special Operations Division until his retirement in mid-2014, said the extradition reaffirms Mexico's commitment to working with the United States and curbing the power of its drug cartels, and the timing could be seen as a good-faith effort by the Mexican government.

Captured in 2014, Guzman then made an even more audacious escape, coolly stepping into a hole in the floor of his prison cell shower and whizzing to freedom on a motorcycle modified to run on tracks laid the length of the tunnel.

Guzman was unapologetic about his criminal activities, saying he had turned to drug trafficking at age 15 to survive.

Guzman was ultimately captured after a shootout that killed five of his associates, wounded one marine and added another dramatic chapter to a story even Guzman apparently thought sounded like a Hollywood movie: