Ummmm… no.

New York (AFP) – Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, one of the world’s most notorious criminals, is claiming his extradition to the United States was illegal and wants a US judge to dismiss his case.

The 60-year-old kingpin, accused of running the Sinaloa cartel — one of the world’s biggest drug empires — was extradited to New York on January 19, and is being held in solitary confinement in Manhattan pending trial next April.

But in a new court filing, his public defender lawyers say his extradition violated the terms of Mexico’s initial agreement to send Guzman to either Texas or California, and violated the Mexico-US extradition treaty.

They also allege that had Mexico known of “the extraordinarily harsh conditions” of his US confinement, it would never have signed off on his extradition.

“These conditions… are tantamount to torture. Had Mexico been advised of these conditions, it almost certainly would not have consented to Mr Guzman’s detention and prosecution in this district,” said the court papers.

On another note, why the heck does one of the richest and most powerful drug lords in the world get a public defender?