WASHINGTON – The world’s most powerful drug lord and the alleged leader of the Sinaloa Cartel was captured Saturday in a condominium tower in Mazatlán, Mexico, officials said.
The 56-year-old Joaquin Guzman Loera, who is known as “El Chapo,” was captured by Mexican Marines and police who he had managed to elude since escaping from prison 13 years ago in a laundry cart, according to published reports.
The U.S. aided Mexican authorities with information to help capture Guzman Loera.
In a press conference, Mexico’s Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said that the operation took place at 6:40 a.m and had been planned for months.
He said entry was delay into Guzman’s home for about two minutes because the doors were reinforced with steel. But he said the Marines prevented Guzman from escaping through tunnels. Murillo Karam said 13 people were arrested, no shots were fired and nobody was injured.
Mexican authorities, so far, have confiscated many weapons, 43 vehicles, 16 houses and four ranches, according to Murillo Karam.
Guzman was considered the most powerful narcotics trafficker in the world by U.S. authorities.
Following his arrest, there was praise by the nation’s chief prosecutor who called it a “landmark achievement” and a “victory” for citizens on both sides of the border.
“Guzman was one of the world’s most wanted men and the alleged head of a drug-running empire that spans continents,” Attorney General Eric Holder stated today in a press release. “The criminal activity Guzman allegedly directed contributed to the death and destruction of millions of lives across the globe through drug addiction, violence, and corruption.”
Holder noted the professionalism and courage of Mexican authorities for the arrest.
“We are pleased that we were able to work effectively with Mexico through the cooperative relationship that U.S. law enforcement agencies have with their Mexican counterparts. We look forward to ongoing cooperation, and future successes,” Holder said.
Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson called the capture of “El Chapo,” who was named by Forbes magazine as the 10th richest man in Mexico with a net worth of about $1 billion, a “significant victory.”
“We congratulate our Mexican partners in this achievement and we will continue to work collaboratively with them to ensure a border region that is safe and secure, for the communities and citizens of both our nations,” Johnson stated.
“Big strike,” said a Twitter post from former President Felipe Calderón, who had made cracking down on drug gangs a hallmark of his tenure, which ended in late 2012, according to the New York Times report.
The Mexican Marines and police also seized many weapons, including 97 large guns, 36 handguns, 2 grenade launchers and a rocket launcher, according to Mexico’s attorney general.
The New York Times reported that Guzman is facing a myriad of drug trafficking and organized crime charges in the United States, which had offered $5 million for information leading to his arrest.
American authorities said it was unclear at this point whether the United States would seek his extradition, but Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, Eduardo Medina Mora, told the New York Times, “I think it’s important that first he faces the charges against him in Mexico.”
Phil Jordan, former director of the El Paso Intelligence Center, however, told the El Paso Times that the U.S. needs to extradite Guzman to U.S. immediately.
“The U.S. authorities need to request his immediate extradition to the United States,” Jordan said. “If he remains in Mexico, in a jail there, he could eventually escape as he did before and with the help of authorities.”
According to publish reports and drug officials, Guzmán’s Sinaloa Cartel smuggles cocaine shipments from Colombia through Mexico to the United States, and has distribution cells throughout the U.S.
The organization smuggled and distributed methamphetamine, marijuana, and heroin. Guzman’s drug organization smuggled more drugs into the United States than other cartels.
Guzmán was captured in 1993 in Guatemala, extradited and sentenced to 20 years in prison in Mexico for murder and drug trafficking.
News accounts indicated that Guzman bribed prison guards and escaped from a Mexican maximum-security prison in 2001.