Mexico Recaptures the world`s top drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman with US help Friday, Jan. 8, 2016

 

The world's most-wanted drug lord was recaptured in a daring raid by Mexican marines Friday January 08,2016, six months after he fled through a tunnel from a maximum security prison in a made-for-Hollywood escape that deeply embarrassed the government and strained ties with the United States.

Apparently Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, also thought his escape was worthy of Hollywood. Part of the reason authorities tracked him down to a house in an upscale neighborhood in a coastal city was because he wanted to film a biopic and his people were communicating with actors and producers, Attorney General Arely Gomez said late Friday.

She said he was being sent back to the maximum-security prison known as Altiplano, from where he escaped on  July 11,2015 through an elaborate tunnel that was dug to shower stall.

Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is escorted by army soldiers to a waiting helicopter, at a federal hangar in Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 8, 2016

Mexican authorities said nothing about extraditing the drug boss to the United States.
Guzman was presented late Friday in dark blue athletic clothing. He was frog-marched to a helicopter by marines, who stopped mid-transit and turned his expressionless face toward the media for a clear view.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced the capture of Guzman using his Twitter account: "Mission accomplished: we have him."

Few had thought Guzman would be taken alive, and few now believe Mexico will want to try to hold him a third time in Mexican prisons. He escaped from maximum-security facilities in 2001 and on July 11, 2015, the second breakout especially humiliating for the Pena Nieto administration, which only held him for less than 18 months.

The capture had top Mexican officials at a Foreign Ministry event gleefully embracing and breaking into a spontaneous rendition of the national anthem after Interior Secretary Miguel Osorio Chong delivered the news.

No sooner than Guzman was apprehended, calls started for his immediate extradition to the U.S., including from a Republican presidential candidate, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
"Given that 'El Chapo' has already escaped from Mexican prison twice, this third opportunity to bring him to justice cannot be squandered," Rubio said.

The United States filed requests for extradition for Guzman on June 25, before he escaped from prison. In September, a judge issued a second provisional arrest warrant on U.S. charges of organized crime, money laundering drug trafficking, homicide and others. But Guzman's lawyers already filed appeals and received injunctions that could substantially delay the process.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said he personally issued the order to recapture Guzman and heaped praise on Mexican agencies for their coordinated effort. "Careful and intensive intelligence work was carried out for months" leading up to the arrest, he said.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto gave a brief live message Friday afternoon that focused heavily on touting the competency of his administration, which has suffered a series of embarrassments and scandals in the first half of his presidency.
"The arrest of today is very important for the government of Mexico. It shows that the public can have confidence in its institutions," Pena Nieto said. "Mexicans can count on a government decided and determined to build a better country."