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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)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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