Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, head of the Sinaloa Cartel, was captured Friday night in Mazatlan after eluding the DEA and Mexican authorities for 13 years
Despite a $5 million reward offered by the DEA for his capture, it took authorities 13 years to find and capture El Chapo, the billionaire head of Mexico’s Sinaloa Drug cartel.
WORLD’S MOST WANTED DRUG BARON JOAQUIN ‘EL CHAPO’ GUZMAN ARRESTED IN MEXICO
The feared drug lord, who heads the fugitive list of U.S. drug officials, was busted in Mazatlan
By Deborah Hastings
New York Daily News
February 22, 2014
The billionaire head of Mexico’s massive Sinaloa cartel has been arrested in the beach resort town of Mazatlan.
A senior U.S. law enforcement official said Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ (Shorty) Guzman was busted Friday night without incident. The arrest is a stellar victory in Mexico’s battle against criminal drug syndicates that control large sections of the country with violence and extortion.
Guzman carried a $5 million bounty on his head offered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Considered extremely violent and dangerous, Guzman is wanted on several U.S. charges and is said to be responsible for the deaths of more than 10,000 people.
Considered an urban legend in Mexico, Guzman has placed on Forbes' list of billionaires and was named Chicago's No. 1 Public Enemy last year. "Not since the Chicago Crime Commission's first Public Enemy No. 1 has any criminal deserved this title more than Joaquin Guzman," said J.R. Davis, president of 94-year-old Chicago Crime Commission.
Nicknamed "El Chapo" (Shorty) for his 5-foot, 6-inch frame, Guzman's bloody cartel is responsible for supplying much of the multi-ton shipments of heroin, marijuana and meth that enters the U.S. from Mexico.
The DEA calls him the "godfather of the drug world." His worth is estimated at $1 billion.
Arguably the most feared kingpin in Mexico, Guzman, 59, was arrested in Guatemala in 1993 and extradited to Mexico, where he was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison on narcotics trafficking charges.
In an audacious 2001 escape, Guzman bribed dozens of federal prison guards, who hid him in a laundry basket and walked him out the front door. He had been on the lam ever since.
Mexican and U.S. authorities gave little information about Friday night's capture except to say it occurred in Mazatlan and was a joint operation by both countries.
The subject of many "narcorrido" folk songs, Guzman is a grade-school dropout who entered the drug world at age 15, rising through the criminal ranks to become head of the Sinaloa Cartel, the largest crime syndicate in Mexico.
The ring has used planes, 747 jumbo jets, boats, railroad cars and vast tunnels running under the border to smuggle narcotics into foreign countries, most of it bound for the United States.
His storied empire was built with help from relatives. His son, Edgar, was killed in a shootout in 2008.
The famous outlaw had managed to elude arrest, despite living in plain sight, many complained.
In 2005, the fugitive walked into a restaurant in Colonia Las Quintas, after bodyguards armed with AK-47s told patrons to remain in their seats and continue eating.
"A man is going to come in, the boss. We ask that you remain in your seats; the doors will close and nobody is allowed to leave ... Do not worry; if you do everything that is asked of you, nothing will happen. Continue eating and don't ask for your check. The boss will pay," one of the guards told diners, according to George W. Grayson's 2011 book "Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State?"
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