Authorities in Mexico have captured Joaqin “El Chapo” Guzman, one of the world’s most wanted drug lords, six months after he escaped from a maximum-security prison.
It was thought that Guzman would not be taken alive, but he was successfully captured on Friday, local time, in a raid by Mexican marines in the city of Los Mochis, in his home state of Sinaloa.
Five people, reportedly members of Guzman’s crew, were killed in a raid on a house, and one marine was wounded. It’s unclear if Guzman was present at the house during the raids, but he was later apprehended in a motel on the city’s outskirts.
Announcing the capture, Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto tweeted: “Mission accomplished: we have him.”
Misión cumplida: lo tenemos. Quiero informar a los mexicanos que Joaquín Guzmán Loera ha sido detenido.
— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) January 8, 2016
Guzman has previously escaped from two maximum-security prisons, first in 2001, and again in 2015, when he escaped through a sophisticated, 1.5km tunnel that included lighting, air ducts and a motorcycle.
The Sinaloa cartel supplies a good portion of the cocaine, heroin and marijuana sold in the U.S. In a statement following his capture, Attorney General Loretta Lynch noted that Guzman has caused “significant violence, suffering and corruption on multiple continents.”
The Mexican government has not yet announced whether it will attempt to hold Guzman in one of its prisons for third time, and though many expect the U.S. to extradite him, no announcement has been made on this front.
Story: CNN
Photo: CNN
