Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera
Born: April 4, 1957
Early life: Grew up poor and began drug running in the late 1970s. Joined the Guadalajara cartel in the early '80s and rose to power. Guadalajara gang split in 1989, and Guzman took control of the entire Sinaloa cartel.
Today: Believed to be the world's richest and most powerful drug trafficker. Reputed head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, which controls much of the lucrative trafficking routes along the U.S. border. Forbes magazine once listed him among the "World's Most Powerful People."
How he hid: With a $7 million bounty on his head, he was reported to move around frequently, using private aircraft, bulletproof SUVs and even all-terrain vehicles.
Indictments: He was indicted in San Diego in 1995 on charges of conspiracy to import more than eight tons of cocaine into the United States, and has been indicted several more times since then.
— Associated Press
Mexican authorities captured the world’s most powerful drug lord in a resort city Saturday after a massive search through the home state of the legendary capo whose global organization is the leading supplier of cocaine to the United States.
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, 56, looked pudgy, bowed and much like his wanted photos when he arrived in Mexico City from Mazatlan in Sinaloa state. He was marched by masked marines across the airport tarmac to a helicopter waiting to whisk him to jail.
Guzman was arrested by the Mexican marines at 6:40 a.m. in a high-rise condominium fronting the Pacific. He was caught with an unidentified woman, said one official not authorized to be quoted by name, who added that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Marshals Service were “heavily involved” in the capture.
A federal law enforcement official said intelligence from a Homeland Security Department investigation also helped lead U.S. and Mexican authorities to his whereabouts.
The official was authorized to discuss details of the arrest by name. No shots were fired.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called the capture a “victory for the citizens of both Mexico and the United States.”
Mexican authorities, based on a series of arrests in recent months, got wind that Guzman was moving around Culiacan, capital of his home state for which the cartel is named.
Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam described an operation that took place between Feb. 13 and 17 focused on seven homes connected by tunnels and to the city’s sewer system.
He said they had Guzman in their sights several times during that period but were unable to mount an operation earlier because of possible risks to the general public.
Guzman faces multiple federal drug trafficking indictments in the U.S. and is on the DEA’s most-wanted list. The tentacles of his Sinaloa Cartel now extend as far as Australia thanks to a sophisticated, international distribution system for cocaine and methamphetamine. The Sinaloa has been heavily involved in the bloody drug war that has torn through parts of Mexico for the last several years.
Guzman’s arrest followed the takedown of several top Sinaloa operatives in the last few months and at least 10 mid-level cartel members in the last week. The information leading to Guzman was gleaned from those arrested, said Michael S. Vigil, a former senior DEA official who was briefed on the operation.
As more people were arrested, more homes were raided.
Authorities then learned that Guzman fled to nearby Mazatlan. He was arrested at the Miramar condominiums, a 10-story, pearl-colored building with white balconies overlooking the Pacific and a small pool in front.
“He got tired of living up in the mountains and not being able to enjoy the comforts of his wealth. He became complacent and starting coming into the city of Culiacan and Mazatlan. That was a fatal error,” said Vigil, adding that Guzman was arrested with “a few” of his bodyguards nearby.
Vigil said Mexico may decide to extradite Guzman to the U.S. to avoid any possibility that he escapes from prison again, as he did in 2001 in a laundry truck — a feat that fed his larger-than-life persona.
Last year, Guzman was named “Public Enemy No. 1” by the Chicago Crime Commission, only the second person to get that distinction after U.S. prohibition-era crime boss Al Capone. Guzman faces a two-count indictment in Chicago charging him with running a drug smuggling conspiracy responsible for smuggling cocaine and heroin into the U.S. He’s also charged in New York with drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping and other crimes.
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