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Mexican President Announces Fugitive Drug Lord 'El Chapo' Has Been Captured
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (Photo by Toby Melville - WPA Pool /Getty Images)
The hunt for notorious drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán has ended as Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto announced his arrest on Friday morning."Mission accomplished: we got him," Peña Nieto wrote in a tweet in Spanish. "I want to inform the Mexican people that Joaquin Guzmán Loera has been arrested."
Misión cumplida: lo tenemos. Quiero informar a los mexicanos que Joaquín Guzmán Loera ha sido detenido.
— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) January 8, 2016
Mi reconocimiento al Gabinete de Seguridad del Gobierno de la República por este importante logro en favor del Estado de Derecho en México.
— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) January 8, 2016
U.S. officials confirmed the arrest with ABC News.
An official who anonymously spoke with the AP said five people were killed and one Mexican marine was injured in the raid that captured the drug lord. In a statement, the Mexican Navy said it received a tip that Guzman was hiding inside a house in the town of Los Mochis, and that they seized an arsenal that included two armored vehicles and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Guzman was not injured.
Authorities examine the tunnel Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman used to escape from the Altiplano prison (Photo courtesy of AP)
Guzman escaped from the maximum-security Atiplano prison in July via a mile-long tunnel, setting off a national manhunt. He reportedly was injured after escaping capture by authorities in October.
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The Sinaloa Cartel, which Guzman led, was said to make around $3 billion annually in the illegal drug trade.
Update [12:00]: Telemundo News tweeted photos that reportedly show Guzman after his capture. They could not verify their authenticity:
Fotografías muestran presunta captura de #ElChapo. Telemundo no ha podido confirmar aún su veracidad. pic.twitter.com/cbjf66tNPh
— Noticias Telemundo (@TelemundoNews) January 8, 2016
Fotografías muestran presunta captura de #ElChapo. Telemundo no ha podido confirmar aún su veracidad. pic.twitter.com/s47qjsQKxD
— Noticias Telemundo (@TelemundoNews) January 8, 2016
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