Drug lord apprehended after shootout in home state

If Nieto chose to give up Guzman, it would raise serious security concerns in the United States and set off a scramble among the many federal prosecutors who want first crack at him. In October, authorities revealed they were hot on Guzman’s trail, only to have him slip out of sight, though not before apparently breaking his leg.

He detailed that this arrest was the result of several months’ intelligence work, which focused on identifying, detaining and dismantling those within Guzman’s sphere of influence.

He was flown to Mexico City and later transferred in a naval helicopter back to the Altiplano.

Dozens of people were arrested over the jailbreak, though details of who Guzman bribed and how his accomplices knew exactly where to tunnel into the prison remain scant. But Guzman’s lawyers already had filed appeals and received injunctions that could delay the extradition process for months or even years.

Security forces had identified a tunnel expert in Guzman’s circle who was outfitting houses in Sinaloa, and that helped lead to the drug baron’s capture, Mexico’s Attorney General Arely Gomez said. After his escape in July, the talk on Friday about keeping and trying Guzman nearly as a matter of national pride wasn’t so overt.

“About the only way they can ensure he will do the rest of his time is put him in a US facility”, Lee said.

El Chapo became Mexico’s top drug kingpin in 2003 after his rival Osiel Cárdenas of the Gulf Cartel was arrested. “But also I am confident that the institutions of the Mexican state, particularly those in charge of public safety, are at the level, with the strength and determination, to recapture this criminal”. “Mexicans can count on a government decided and determined to build a better country”.

USA officials say they were aware of the operation to capture Guzman, providing assistance in the search, A U.S government official emphasized the capture was the Mexican government’s operation.

“They have to extradite him”, said Alejandro Hope, a security analyst in Mexico.

Five people are thought to have been killed in the raid, which involved the army and navy as well as police. The marine’s injuries were not life threatening. He said in July that Guzman’s escape was an insult to USA law enforcement who had worked tirelessly to indict the kingpin. Another law enforcement official confirmed that Guzman had been captured at a motel on the outskirts of Los Mochis.

Guzman had been previously captured on February 22, 2014, in the Sinaloa resort of Mazatlan.

Despite Mexico’s pretty strict ban on what are termed military-grade weapons “for the exclusive use of the armed forces”, the Marines found four vehicles (two of which were armored), eight rifles, one handgun and an RPG with two rockets. M-16s with grenade launchers. And an assault rifle had a. 40 mm grenade launcher, and at least one grenade. “The arrest is a significant achievement in our shared fight against transnational organized crime, violence, and drug trafficking”, a DEA statement said.

IN this photo taken Friday Oct. 16, 2015 T-shirts featuring fugitive Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman hang for sale inside the shrine of a faith healer in Mexico City, Friday, Oct. 16, 2015. He spent years on the run, becoming the head of the Sinoloa cartel before his recapture in 2014.

Guzman’s prison escape – his second one in 14 years – embarrassed the Mexican government and made him a symbol of ineptitude and corruption.

The man whose old nickname means “Shorty” had used the money from a drug empire whose tentacles reach Europe and Asia to dig himself out of trouble. During the confrontation, Guzman reportedly fell from a cliff and broke his leg and injured his face.