Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been recaptured and sent back to the maximum-security prison he escaped from six months ago.
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The cartel chief known for his daring escapes from high-security prisons was caught early on Friday thanks in large part to his efforts aimed at producing a biopic about himself, according to Mexican officials. “We got him. I want to inform all Mexicans that Joaquin Guzman Loera has been arrested”.
Arguing that Mexican prisons are little more than roadblocks for drug kingpins, Texas Congressman Michael McCaul, R-Austin, is again calling for the extradition of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to the United States.
The U.S. Justice Department commended the Mexicans for their work as well.
The Mexican attorney general’s office secured an extradition warrant in September, but Guzman’s attorneys won an injunction that could delay the process. “DEA is extremely pleased at the capture of Chapo Guzman”, they wrote.
El Chapo tried to escape arrest through a sewer tunnel in a method he had used before in 2014.
Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto praised this latest operation as a triumph of law and order.
In 1993, police arrested him in Guatemala and extradited him to Mexico. “This is a success for the state”, Pena Nieto said. “Mexicans can count on a government decided and determined to build a better country”. It was unclear if Guzman was there or nearby when the raid was under way.
US officials are asking the Mexican government for the “immediate extradition” of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán following the drug lord’s recapture today in Sinaloa, according to highly placed agents in the USA government.
On Twitter, it said it saluted “the bravery involved in his capture”.
During the shootout, Guzman and an aide allegedly escaped through a manhole that led to the city’s sewer system.
January 19, 2001: Escapes from one of Mexico’s two top-security prisons, in Jalisco state, allegedly in a laundry cart.
His second escape previous year was even more audacious. He slipped through a hole in his cell block and into a lighted, ventilated tunnel.
The tunnel, which took a year to dig, was found equipped with ventilation ducts, running electricity to power strip lighting, stairs and a motorbike on rails.
In the United States, the Drug Enforcement Administration hailed the capture as proof of the close relationship between the two countries.
Republican presidential candidate U.S. Sen. The escape heaped embarrassment on Pena Nieto, who had resisted a USA request to extradite Guzman and had said previously that an escape would be “unforgivable”.
The manhunt culminated in a house in Los Mochis, which authorities began to stake out in December, Gomez said.
The navy said in a statement that marines, acting on a tip, stormed into a home in the town of Los Mochis before dawn. Five people were killed and one Mexican marine injured in the clash at a house.
“However, the criminal was accompanied by two women and a girl, so (marines in a helicopter) chose to not fire their firearms to not risk the lives of third parties”, Ms Gomez said.
The navy said a suspected gang capo escaped while a dozen weapons, including a rocket-grenade launcher, were seized. “It is a big success for the government”.
It was further reported that though Guzman had been recaptured and imprisoned, his extradition to the United States of America might take some time. Six others were also detained in the operation.
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But Senator Miguel Barbosa, a leader of Mexico’s leftist opposition Democratic Revolution Party, said Guzman should face trial in his homeland.
