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'El Chapo' Recaptured: Mexico Takes Slippery Drug Lord In Custody

  • by: Alan Duke
  • (Fri, 08 Jan 2016 18:44:03 Z)

Mexico's president tweeted big news Friday, informing his citizens that notorious drug lord Joaquin Guzman Loera has been recaptured. "El Chapo" has been a fugitive since his spectacular escape from a Mexican prison last year.

"Mission accomplished : we have it. I want to inform Mexicans Joaquin Guzman-Loera has been arrested," President Enrique Peña Nieto wrote in a Spanish language tweet.

Associated Press quotes an unnamed source saying Guzman-Loera was captured after a shootout with Mexican marines Los Mochis, which is a city in Guzman's home state of Sinaloa.

"My appreciation to the Security Cabinet of the Government of the Republic for this important achievement for the rule of law in Mexico," the president also tweeted.

The U.S. government offered a $5 million reward for help in finding and catching Guzman-Loera after he escaped through a tunnel last July.

"Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman-Loera has destroyed lives and communities throughout the United States and Mexico and his capture is a high priority for DEA," Acting Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency Chuck Rosenberg said last year. "His escape poses a danger to the safety and security of both our countries."

The Mexico government has refused in the past to extradite Guzman-Loera to face 11 criminal indictments in the United States.

About the author:

Editor-in-Chief Alan Duke co-founded Lead Stories after ending a 26-year career with CNN, where he mainly covered entertainment, current affairs and politics. Duke closely covered domestic terrorism cases for CNN, including the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, the UNABOMBER and search for Southeast bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. CNN moved Duke to Los Angeles in 2009 to cover the entertainment beat. Duke also co-hosted a daily podcast with former HLN host Nancy Grace, "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace" and hosted the podcast series "Stan Lee's World: His Real Life Battle with Heroes & Villains." You'll also see Duke in many news documentaries, including on the Reelz channel, CNN and HLN.

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