Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced Friday that fugitive drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was recaptured seven months after he escaped from a maximum security prison.
An official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be quoted by name said Guzman was apprehended after a shootout with Mexican marines in the city of Los Mochis, in Guzman’s home state of Sinaloa.
Responding to what was seen as one of the biggest embarrassments of his administration – Guzman’s July 11 escape through a tunnel from Mexico’s highest-security prison – Pena Nieto wrote in his Twitter account on Friday: “mission accomplished: we have him.”
Five people have been killed and one Mexican marine wounded in the clash.
The Mexican Navy said in a statement that marines acting on a tip raided a home in the town of Los Mochis before dawn. They were fired on from inside the structure. Five suspects were killed and six others arrested. The marine’s injuries were not life threatening.
At the home marines seized two armored vehicles, eight long guns, one handgun and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
Guest
- John Burnett, southwest correspondent at NPR. He tweets @radiobigtex.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.