“Mission Accomplished,” is what Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto tweeted to his followers announcing the capture of Mexico’s most wanted man. Joaquin Guzmán Loera, famously known as El Chapo Guzmán or just El Chapo, escaped from a Mexican prison in July 2015.
Joaquin Guzmán is known as El Chapo, but what he is known for is a little more intense than his name. Guzmán is the head of the Sinaloa Cartel; a drug cartel so strong the United States Intelligence Community calls it the "most powerful in the world." The Sinaloa Cartel mostly distributes heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and MDMA across Mexico and even around the world.
After being wanted on many criminal charges, Guzmán was arrested in 1993 in Guatemala to later be extradited to Mexico, where he was sentenced to 20 years and nine months in prison. In Mexico, he served eight of those years in a maximum-security prison before he escaped using a laundry cart. In 2014, the authorities caught up to the infamous escapee on the Pacific coast of Mexico in Mazatlan.
It seemed like 13 years on the run wasn’t enough for Guzmán because on July 11, 2015 he escaped yet again. An elaborate tunnel that included artificial light, air ducts and even a motorcycle was discovered. Due to the fact that his cell was under 24-hour surveillance, the only place for the tunnel to be placed was the only location where the cameras could not see: the shower. Guzmán climbed down a ladder into the tunnel which lead to a construction site about one mile away. This escape turned into an international manhunt. Authorities now know that his brother-in-law, an attorney and two pilots aided in the escape.
Not only did Guzmán’s escape cause panic for law enforcement, but it also caused a swarm of Internet memes. The drug lord was nicknamed a “hide and seek champ” while others were convinced he only escaped in order to “handle” Donald Trump after recent comments about Mexicans. Others were just shocked that Mexico actually thought the drug lord would stay in prison.
In the early hours of January 8, Mexican authorities conducted a military operation to capture the on-the-run drug lord, El Chapo. One of the worlds most wanted men was found in the coastal city of Los Mochis, Mexico. The Mexican Navy conducted a gunfire-filled operation that killed five of Guzman’s accomplices and injured one Mexican Marine. Six others who were with the drug kingpin were arrested. This would make it the third time Guzmán was captured by police.
Now that Guzmán is in custody, questions to where he will be placed next are arising. After the capture, the drug lord was put on a helicopter headed for the same prison he escaped from about six months ago. The United States has multiple charges against Guzmán and has fought to extradite him in the past but lost.
Mexico is currently considering extraditing El Chapo to the United States.
